Box Score ASHLAND, Ore. – Third-seeded Southern Oregon swept the sixth-seeded Knights 25-22, 25-4 and 25-16 in a Cascade Collegiate Conference Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal match Tuesday night at Bob Riehm Arena.
Southern Oregon improves to 19-10 overall with the win and will advance to the tournament semifinals, where the Raiders will face No. 2 seed Eastern Oregon on Friday in Caldwell, Idaho. Warner Pacific's season comes to an end with the loss, and the Knights finish the season with a 15-12 overall record.
Natalie Scheller finished the night with a match-high 18 kills to go with only two errors. Haley Kasler added eight kills, while Nikki Keller finished with seven kills and no errors in 11 attempts
For Warner Pacific,
Devan Belshe tallied a team-best eight kills, while
Marchelle Bostic led the team with 15 assists and
Rylie Engelson added 10 digs.
Warner Pacific opened the first set by scoring the first three points before SOU worked its way back to tie it at 6-6 following back-to-back service aces by Angela Spieker. The Raiders started to pull away with a five-point streak to make it 15-10 before Warner Pacific battled back to within two at 22-20 after a block by
Kristina Naff capped a three-point streak. The Raiders used kills by Mona Goudarzian, Scheller and Kasler to close out the 25-22 set victory.
The second set was all SOU, as the Raiders hit .500 in the set and limited Warner Pacific to a -.242 attack percentage. Southern Oregon scored the first six points and followed a WPC block with a seven-point streak to pull ahead 14-1. The Knights scored two of the next four points, but the Raiders finished off the set victory with a 9-1 run. Warner Pacific's four points were the fewest in a set by an SOU opponent since the Raiders held Evergreen to three points during a match in 2009.
The final set was close early as the teams exchanged points prior to a five-point SOU streak to take a 9-6 lead. Southern Oregon stretched its advantage to 13-7 before the Knights took the next four points to pull back within two. A Jordan Crossley block sparked a four-point SOU run, and the Raiders scored seven of the last nine points to clinch the match.
