Another comeback against Cavs keeps Raiders in first place 11/7/2014 10:14:00 PM SOU Sports Information ASHLAND – The 13th-ranked Southern Oregon University volleyball team's proclivity to unflappable play in big moments came in handy again Friday night with a Cascade Conference title hanging in the balance. The Raiders were dismantled in the third set, picked up the pieces in time to break match-point three times in the fourth and dominated the fifth, downing the Concordia Cavaliers 25-23, 23-25, 12-25, 31-29, 15-8 at Riehm Arena. The Raiders (21-4 overall, 15-2 CCC) remained in a first-place tie with 11th-ranked Eastern Oregon going into Saturday's regular-season finale at 5 p.m. against Warner Pacific. They'd lost three straight to the Cavaliers dating back to last season, and had they lost again Concordia would've stolen the inside track to the No. 2 seed in the CCC tournament and a quarterfinal bye. SOU is 5-0 in matches that go the distance this season and has needed to win the fourth set on three of those occasions. Motade Atanda (San Jose, Calif./Presentation) registered a match-high 19 kills with 15 digs to lead the Raiders, while Paulla Pinheiro (Fortaleza, Brazil/Colegio Farias Brito) racked up 12 kills and 18 digs. Kelsea MacPhee (Klamath Falls, Ore./Mazama) stepped in with a career-high 10 kills, Sam Boehnke (Ashland, Ore./Ashland) totaled nine kills and six blocks, and libero Brookelynn Cole (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) bailed SOU out on several occasions with 30 digs. SOU hit at averages of .049 and .088 in the second and third sets, unable to loosen up Concordia's sturdy back row. Cavs libero Shantel Gritsch devastated the attack with 32 digs, and 6-foot setter Jenessa Taylor had 50 assists, 16 digs, seven kills and three assisted blocks. With the score tied at one set apiece, Lindsey Dorsey helped the Cavs roll through the third with six of her team-high 18 kills in the frame. The Raiders hadn't failed to score more than 12 in a 25-point conference set since 2011. SOU took the first four points of the fourth, but Concordia finally caught up by its 16th point and the set was tied 12 more times after that. Pinheiro eventually fought off potential match-points twice with booming kills, and an Atanda kill made it 29-29. Boehnke and Emma Gasman (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan) then teamed up on two straight blocks for the win. Three straight Concordia attacking errors and an Atanda kills put SOU in control, 6-2, in the fifth. The Raiders had a 75-percent sideout rate in the set and got kills from four different players. Gasman recorded nine kills and assisted three blocks, and Abbie Hanser (Billings, Mont./Billings Central Catholic) assisted eight big blocks in all. The Raiders ran out two setters, getting 28 assists and eight digs out of Lauren McGowne (Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield) and 23 and six from Tyana Andrews (Rochester, Wash./Centralia). Ashley Jibby had 14 kills and 12 digs for the Cavs. Brianna Hogan added 13 kills and got in on six blocks.