Ashland, Ore. – The Southern Oregon University Volleyball team did not let Northwest Christian forget about its last visit to Bob Riehm Arena as the Raiders swept the visiting Beacons for the second straight time to win the quarterfinals of the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship.
The Raiders (17-9 overall) came out swinging led by junior Nikki Keller who totaled a team high 10 kills finishing with a dominate .571 attacking percentage while freshman Emma Gasmen tallied nine kills in the match. Freshman setter Lauren McGowne led both teams finishing with 37 assists on the night.
With a 25-15, 25-20, 25-23 win, the fourth-seeded Raiders will face top seeded College of Idaho in the semifinals in Idaho this Friday.
Six-seeded Northwest Christian made it difficult to find a rhythm ending the night with 11 service errors and only one ace.
Senior Renee Yomtob led the defense for the Raiders finishing with a match high 24 digs, only 31 shy from tying the school record for digs in a career at 1,647.
“She was just awesome,” SOU head coach Josh Rohlfing said. “She was really good in serve-receive and defensively handled everything distributed across the net. She’s playing so well right now, just allowing herself to be free and play.”
Yomtob will have another chance to reach the record mark at C of I.
SOU recorded 14 blocks in the match with five from Keller and three from McGowne.
Senior Mona Goudarzian finished with eight kills while junior Paulla Pinheiro had seven kills and two aces on the night.
The Raiders finished the first set on a 10-2 run and only trailed in the second 1-2 before the final set of the night. Trailing 23-22, SOU put away NCU for good after a kill by Pinheiro and two straight by senior Liz Madden gave them the victory.
Second-seed Eastern Oregon will face third-seeded Concordia to play for the CCC championship match held on Saturday at College of Idaho.
