Ciciley Fox had 17 kills in C of I win
CALDWELL, Idaho - The College of Idaho extended their home court win streak to 35 matches and their Cascade Conference home streak to 57, withstanding a nationally-ranked Southern Oregon team in four sets, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 27-25, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The No. 8 ranked Lady Yotes (9-1, 6-0 CCC) had four players with double-digit kill nights and won despite a monster effort from SOU All-American, Sarah Holgen.
Set 1 saw The C of I get five kills from Ciciley Fox, as the hosts used a 7-1 run to erase an early 3-0 lead by the 14th-ranked Raiders (6-4, 3-2). Two different Fox kills gave the Yotes their biggest leads of the set at 15-9 and 22-16, with a Kelsey Soos service ace ending the frame.
Set 2 was wild, as SOU jumped out to an 8-3 lead, including a pair of Holgen spikes, before the Yotes got three Torrey Hulsey kills in a 7-2 push to knot the score. The Raiders would rattle of four straight points, the last two on Holgen kills, to regain the margin to 16-11 – however, The C of I battled back, with three Kylee Nawahine kills, as part of a 10-2 run, gave the Coyotes a 21-19. Southern would fight back, scoring six of the final seven points, including two Liz Madden kills, to even the match.
Set 3 saw the Yotes build leads of 15-7 and 19-12, before the Raiders responded, scoring six-straight points on Krista Novelli’s serve to tie the score at 20-20, taking the lead at 22-21 on a Renee Yomtob ace. The C of I would withstand the pressure, as back-to-back Danielle Montalbo kills ended the set.
The final set saw 16 ties and nine lead changes, with neither team leading by more than two points after the frame was deadlocked at 9-9. Caryn Westrick gave SOU a chance to send the match to a decisive fifth set with an ace to break a 23-23 tie, but Hulsey kept the Yotes in the set with a kill. After a Holgen kill gave SOU a second set point, the Yotes tied the period on a Southern hitting error, taking a 26-25 lead on the final of four Bryanne Gribble aces, then claimed the match when a Lauren Swetland drive missed long.
Fox and Montalbo led the Yotes with 17 kills apiece, with Nawahine adding 15 kills and 13 digs, and Hulsey recording 10 kills. Kelsey Soos led all players with 56 assists, with Whitney Brigham recording 35 digs.
Holgen had 23 kills and 13 digs in the loss for SOU, with Madden recording 11 kills. Angela Spieker had 21 assists, with Becky Johnstone adding 17 digs for the Raiders.
The Lady Yotes hit the road for their next three matches, beginning next Friday at Warner Pacific.