Raiders sweep Eastern Oregon to win another tourney crown
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – Co-champions in the Cascade Conference regular season, Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon were expected to produce more drama Saturday afternoon after splitting two five-set classic in their first matchups.
But in the final of the CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank, the theatrics were replaced by a Raider clinic.
The seventh-ranked Raiders rattled fourth-ranked EOU from the jump of a 25-12, 25-22, 25-18 dismantling at Lithia Motors Pavilion, emphatically claiming their second straight tournament crown. They had 10 blocks in the first set – their highest total in a single frame during coach
Josh Rohlfing's 13-year tenure – and sunk the Mountaineers to a .036 attacking average, their lowest since 2010.
CCC Player of the Year Taylor Ristvedt had 10 kills and was in on a career-high nine of SOU's 12 total blocks. Her previous season-high was six; in the first set, she assisted seven.
Elliott Cook tallied nine kills and five blocks, Makayla Hoyt had six kills and seven blocks, and Maddie Pernich went for eight kills on 14 swings as the Raiders finished off the rout in just 66 minutes.
"When you have a big match and your team is just so consistent in pregame and every practice leading up to it, it's such a relieving feeling as a coach," Rohlfing said. "It wasn't about having to do something, it was about wanting to accomplish something as a group and we were phenomenal in every facet of the game."
At 29-3 overall, the Raiders are expected to get a bye through next weekend's NAIA Opening Round when the 44-team national tournament field is announced Monday. They'll go straight to the final site – Sioux City, Iowa – for the NAIA Championships pool play on Dec. 3-7. The Mountaineers (29-3) will likely do the same, having clinched the CCC's second automatic bid to the tourney with their sweep of Corban in Friday's semifinals.
The Mountaineers won their first matchup with SOU in Ashland and had a 2-0 set lead two weeks ago in La Grande before the Raiders apparently solved their attack, storming back that night for a stunning five-set win.
The Raiders have now won six consecutive sets against them for the first time since 2006. They last swept EOU in 2013, a span of 14 matches ago.
Their floor defense was key again, highlighted by Emma Ryan's 19 digs, Hannah Botagin's nine and Sara Fanger's eight.
The tone was established at the net, however. EOU's top attacker, Megan Bunn, was blocked eight times overall and six times in the first set, including on four points during a 7-0 SOU run.
Bogatin's 24 assists and Tehani Faitau's 17 helped the Raiders hit .264 as a team. Nila Lukens chipped in six kills and Kylie Ristvedt had four.
"We served them really tough, our blocking was outstanding and the floor defense was ridiculous," Rohlfing said. "Everything just came up gold tonight and this group deserved it."
Cambree Scott's nine kills led the Mountaineers. Kiley McMurtrey amassed 16 digs and Madison Pilon had 25 assists and five digs.
The Raiders will bring a 14-match winning streak to the national tournament. They've won 18 consecutive sets.