PORTLAND, Ore. – Southern Oregon fought back from a two set deficit to survive a a strong challenge from Warner Pacific at C.C Perry Gym tonight in Cascade Conference volleyball action.

The five set victory keeps the Raiders conference record unblemished at 2-0, while the host Knights fall to 2-1 in league play.

Though SOU came in a heavy favorite, Warner Pacific was ready to play from the opening serve. The raiders jumped out to a 7-3 lead in set one, but WPC slowly fought back and tied the score at 14-14 on a Devan Belshe kill. A few moments later, SOU grabbed a 20-18 lead and looked to claim the opening frame. After a WP timeout, the Knights rolled off seven straight points behind the serving of Marchelle Bostic to stun the visitors and win 25-20.

A confident Warner Pacific squad started strong in set two, breaking a 10-10 tie with four straight points and keeping the advantage. SOU's Haley Kasler scored a kill late in the set to make the score 21-18 in favor of WP, but the Knights tallied four of the next five points capped by a spike from Rylie Engelson to take the set 25-19.

Set three was the turning point for Southern Oregon, and the Raiders avoided the sweep by attacking with more precision. SOU pounded out 16 kills in the frame versus just three errors and six different Raiders scored multiple kills. Even so, the teams found themselves tied at 17-17 late in the set before SOU pulled away to win 25-19, helped by back-to-back kills from Jordan Crossley.

The Raiders used their size at the net in set four and began to get hand on WPC attacks. The Knights could muster only nine kills in the set, while SOU jumped for four blocks led by Nikki Keller's four block assists. Despite the troubles, the scrappy Knights were just one point down (17-18) after an Engelson kill, but could draw no closer as three WP errors doomed any comeback hope.

Set five was a thriller, as the teams traded sideouts until 12-12 showed on the scoreboard. At that point Mona Goudarzian put home a kill for SOU, while the Knights committed two errors to hand the set and match to a relieved Raider squad.

Haley Kasler led Southern Oregon (6-6, 2-0 CCC) with a match high 19 kills, while Mona Goudarzian was also in double figures with 11 kills. Libero Renee Yomtob had a strong defensive game, contributing 27 digs. The Raider advantage in size was apparent with 13 total blocks compared to four for Warner Pacific.

The Knights (5-3, 2-1 CCC) were led again by Devan Belshe with 16 kills, while Rylie Engelson added 14 spikes. Samantha Bryan tallied 22 digs while wearing the libero jersey, and Marchelle Bostic touched up 26 assists.