ASHLAND – After surviving another touch-and-go Opening Round, the No. 12-ranked Southern Oregon University volleyball team is bound for the NAIA Championships final site for the fourth time in five seasons.
On Saturday afternoon at Lithia Motors Pavilion, the Raiders (27-6 overall) rallied back from a 22-18 fourth-set deficit to avoid a tiebreaker and knock out Loyola (La.) 25-13, 23-25, 25-22, 27-25.
Like last year's Opening Round, when they faced match-point three times before moving on, the Raiders scored the final three points to punch their tickets to Sioux City, Iowa. Freshman middle Tessa Zimmerman delivered a kill to even the score at 25 before setter Vitoria Mattos caught the Wolf Pack off guard by lofting a ball to the end line. On match point, Loyola hitter Juliana Pacini's attack sailed over the Raiders' block and out of bounds to trigger the celebration.
The fourth set was tied at 12 different points. Junior right-side hitter Hannah Stadstad kept the Raiders in it with six of her match-high 14 kills in the frame – three of them after they went down 22-18.
SOU has won four consecutive Opening Round matches dating back to 2014 and will be at the final site, among the last 24 teams standing, for the 12th time in team history. Pool play begins Nov. 28, and the eight three-team pools will be announced at 3 p.m. Sunday by the NAIA office.
The Wolves, who came out of the Southern States Athletic Conference and into the tourney for the first time since 2002, ended their season at 26-7. After watching the Raiders attack at a blistering .435 average in the first set, they ended the second on a 3-1 run sparked by two Simone Tyson kills.
They led 20-19 in the third, too, before committing three consecutive unforced attacking errors during a decisive 4-0 SOU spurt. The Raiders' defense established the tone during the set with four blocks, getting two from Sadie Byrd and two more on which Megan Perry and Tessa Zimmerman teamed up.
Byrd, who owns the third highest blocks-per-set average in the country, totaled six in her final home match and put down nine kills without an error on 15 swings. Perry finished with 10 kills and three blocks. Marin Mackey and Carol Melo added nine kills apiece.
Solid work by the Raiders' setters led them to a .295 average on the match. Mattos tallied 22 assists, 12 digs and a service ace, and Annie Hite went for 28 assists, eight digs and an ace.
Emily Sheperis's 12 kills and four blocks paced the Wolf Pack. Tyson contributed nine kills, 12 digs and three aces.