Oregon Tech, hosting their 3rd Annual "Volley for a Cure" event, was edged by No. 11 Southern Oregon in a five set thriller tonight at Danny Miles Court. (photo by Kelly Caleb)
Oregon Tech Edged by No. 11 SOU in Five Set Thriller
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Oregon Tech couldn’t overcome a five point deficit in set 5, as No. 11 Southern Oregon University rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Owls 3-2 (25-17, 20-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-12) tonight in Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball at Danny Miles Court.
Tech, trying to earn their first win versus SOU since 2005, falls to 17-7 overall and 5-5 in CCC play. SOU improved their CCC mark to 9-1 and 15-3 on the season.
SOU hit a blistering .382 to control all of the opening set and move out 1-0. The Owls, meanwhile, took a 2-1 advantage after posting a .333 and .258 attack percentage in the second and third set.
After taking a 13-6 lead in set 1, the Owls recovered and closed to 21-17. SOU, however, recorded the next four points to earn the 25-17 win.
Set 2 saw Tech erupt to take a 9-1 advantage, behind six Raider errors, to go with a pair of Rubey kills, and one spike from Kelsey Sampson. Sampson would lead the Owls with 17 kills on the night.
SOU managed to close to four points on two occasions before the Owls tied the match 1-1 with a 25-20 win.
Set 3 once again saw the home team bounce out to an early lead, 6-0, while SOU mounted a comeback and pull to one, 11-10.
The Owls never trailed in the set, but the Raiders were able to tie it at 15-all before Tech would pull away once Rubey made it 17-15 behind a kill and an ensuing ace. The Owls would notch the final four points of the set, using a pair of Sampson kills in the stretch, to move up 2-1 after the 25-19 win.
Set 4 went back-and-forth, including eight ties with the last coming at 13-13. SOU moved up by as many as three points, 17-14, after a Tech miscue and Lauren McGowne kill.
The Owls closed the deficit to 21-20, but the Raiders used a pair of Motade Atanda kills during a four-point run winning 25-20 and tying the match at 2-2.
Set 5 saw the teams trade points throughout the first half of the finale with the Raiders taking an 8-7 edge at the exchange.
A pair of Emma Gasman kills, with one by McGowne and another from Paulla Pinheiro, pushed SOU out to a 13-8 lead, one the Owls never recovered from.
Tech manage to close to 14-12, but Pinheiro would end it on a kill to win the set 15-12 and match 3-2.
For the Owls Kelsey Sampson tacked on 11 digs to record a double-double after her 17 kill effort. Jennifer Lakin racked up 16 digs to anchor the Owls’ defense. Tori Porter dished out 30 assists with Whitney Webster, Madisen Garlie and Mykala Rubey notching nine kills each in the loss.
SOU’s quartet of Paulla Pinheiro, Motade Atanda, Emma Gasman and Sam Boehnke tallied 60 kills of the Raiders 64 total for the night. Pinheiro recorded a match-high 20, followed by Motade with 18. The duo registered a double-double after coming away with 15 digs each. Gasman added 12 kills and Boehnke 10 in the Raider win. Lauren McGowne handed out 59 assists with Brookelynn Cole anchoring the SOU defense with a match-high 21 digs.