Cavs Tackle Tech in Possible Playoff Preview

11/8/2013 4:11:00 PM

Concordia 3, Oregon Tech 0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-23)?? Stats Comparison CU OIT Kills 44 34 Errors 12 15 Attack Pct. .302 .170 Assists 43 33 Digs 51 47 Blocks 8.0 7.0 Aces 8 6 CU Leaders OIT Raudsepp Stein 11 Kills 11 Smith Mangan 41 Assists 17 Whelchel Jibby 13 Digs 13 Baumann Smith Goringe Raudsepp 2.5 Blocks 2.5 Garlie Jibby 3 Aces 2 Baumann

PORTLAND, Ore.—Reaching the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2002, Concordia University defeated Oregon Tech 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-23) on Friday night inside the Cavalier Gymnasium.

The win propelled Concordia's record to 20-6 on the season and 13-4 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Oregon Tech fell to 14-17 overall and 7-10 in league action. The Cavaliers last reached 20 wins in a season 11 years ago when eth squad registered a 24-3 record en route to its fourth straight CCC title.

The win also helped CU maintain pace for the No. 3 seed in the CCC Tournament which will begin next Tuesday. The Cavs ended the day tied with Southern Oregon (16-8, 13-4 CCC) in the CCC standings and will face the Raiders in CU's regular-season finale and Senior Night on Saturday.

With a win against SOU on Saturday, the Cavs and Oregon Tech would meet again in the quarterfinals of the CCC Tournament next week. A CU loss would create a matchup as a No. 4 seed against No. 5-seeded Northwest Christian. Oregon Tech, meanwhile, will close out its regular season at Warner Pacific on Saturday.
College of Idaho (15-9, 15-2 CCC) and Southern Oregon (24-5, 14-3 CCC) hold the top two positions entering the final day of action.

On Friday, the Cavs faced a tough battle against an OIT that is fresh off a 3-1 upset over then No. 10-ranked Eastern Oregon which clinched a playoff spot for the Owls.
The opening set featured seven ties despite CU jumping out to a 7-2 advantage with back-to-back kills by Mariah Raudsepp (Dundee, Ore./C.S. Lewis Academy) and again by Jackie Stein (Portland, Ore./Westview H.S.) leading the push. The Owls rallied to even the set at 10-10 on a Marlee Smith swing and took its first lead on the following point with a Madisen Garlie kill.

Still squared at 14-all, Concordia unleashed an 11-2 spurt to abruptly end the first set.

With 11 ties in the second set, including the final occurrence at 23-23, Oregon Tech remained a threat to even the match until the very end as an attacking error gave CU set point where Raudsepp closed the gate with a solo block.

Just as the previous set, the finale found the two teams even at 23-23, this time with Marlee Smith connecting for a kill to prevent CU's first match point. The Cavs immediately took serve back on an Ashley Jibby (Post Falls, Idaho/Post Falls H.S.) swing to the corner of the court and eliminated any OIT comeback hopes on an Amanda Goringe (Aloha, Ore./Aloha H.S.) finish.

Overall, Concordia outhit the Owls .302 to .170, including a .444 to .139 advantage in the opener. Two players from each team reached double figures in kills with OITS's Smith sharing the match high with CU's Raudsepp and Stein with 11 each. Oregon Tech's Kelsey Sampson added 10 kills and 10 digs for a 'double-double'.