CCC CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
FRIDAY'S MATCHES
Quarterfinals – (5) College of Idaho 3, (4) Bushnell 0
Quarterfinals – (3) Southern Oregon 3, (7) Oregon Tech 1
Semifinals – (1) Eastern Oregon 3, (5) College of Idaho 0
Semifinals – (3) Southern Oregon 3, (2) Corban 0
SATURDAY'S MATCH
Championship – (3) Southern Oregon 3, (1) Eastern Oregon 0
LA GRANDE, Ore. – If the first-ever three-way tie for the regular-season title left things feeling unsettled, Southern Oregon provided some resounding closure for everyone in the Cascade Conference Volleyball Championships presented by U.S. Bank.
After sweeping one co-champion in the tournament semifinals, the No. 7-ranked Raiders swept another, No. 6 Eastern Oregon, in Saturday's title match by scores of 25-23, 26-24, and 25-16 at Quinn Coliseum. Senior right-side hitter Megan Perry validated her CCC Player of the Year designation with 15 kills on 29 attacks as SOU (28-3 overall) stole the first two sets and breezed through the third, defeating the Mountaineers (28-4) for the third time this season.
"We were really, really gritty," SOU coach Josh Rohlfing said. "Every time they gave a punch, we hung in and punched back and showed a ton of resolve in a tough place to play. That's what we've done over the last half of the season. This is a resilient group."
The tournament championship is SOU's first since taking down EOU in both 2018 and '19 in Ashland. The Raiders had never previously celebrated one on the road, but did it this time against a Mountaineers team that has two losses – both to SOU in a span of five weeks – in its last 33 home matches.
EOU, the tourney's No. 1 seed, had a partisan crowd rocking with a 23-22 lead in the first set. Perry's seventh kill of the frame tied it, and back-to-back Mountaineers attacking errors gave it to the Raiders.
EOU served for set point in the second, up 24-23 on a Kiauna Mack block, before Perry struck again with back-to-back kills and Keira Vaugh's attack sailed wide as the Raiders went up 2-0.
A subdued crowd watched them dominate the third, taking five straight points to go up 8-4 and never looking back. Mylena Testoni registered five of her eight kills and one of her three service aces in the frame. The senior outside hitter added 11 digs.
The No. 3-seeded Raiders, who hit .252 compared to EOU's .154 clip, also got strong production in the middle from Linda Conceicao, who had seven kills and five blocks, and Sadie Byrd, who totaled six and two. Hannah Stadstad contributed seven kills as Vitoria Mattos accrued a match-high 26 assists.
Vaughn led the Mountaineers with 10 kills as they attempted to win their third consecutive tournament title. Mack pitched in six kills and was in on seven of the team's 10 blocks.
But Perry, as she did all weekend, stole the show. The 6-foot-2 lefty combined for 39 kills over 10 sets in three tournament matches, attacking at a .333 average.
She and the Raiders will enter the NAIA National Tournament on a seven-match winning streak, having dropped just one of their last 22 sets. The Mountaineers will also be in automatically when the field is announced at 10 a.m. Monday.
Both teams, along with CCC co-champion Corban, are expected to get host nods for next Saturday's NAIA Opening Round due to their top-10 rankings.