Oregon Institute of Technology Athletics

Tournament Central  
 
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Volleyball Tournament, presented by U.S. Bank, will take place this weekend in La Grande, Ore. The Lady Owls who finished third in the conference regular season will enter the tournament as the No. 3-seed, the highest seed in school history, matching the 2008 and 2007 squads who entered the CCC post season tournaments also as three seeds. Tech will take on the 13^th ranked and No.2 seed Warriors of Corban University at 4 p.m. on Friday evening in the CCC tournament semifinals.
 
"We look forward to matching up against a nationally ranked opponent on Friday," said head coach Ken Murczek. "Corban has many powerful offensive options in their lineup and a very talented Libero who anchors their defense. Our team had a great practice last night and is highly focused for the match up this weekend."
 
The winner of the upcoming championships will earn the conference's second automatic berth to the NAIA Tournament. Should the CCC Tournament winner be No.8 Eastern Oregon, which already secured a national-tournament bid as the conference's regular-season champion, then the berth would go to the tournament's runner-up.
 
The Owls who received votes in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll and No. 13 Corban split their two-match season series, with both matches taking place on a neutral court in Lewiston, Idaho back on March 6.
 
Oregon Tech won a five-set thriller in the first match, and handed Corban its first loss of the season at the time. Corban responded however, cruising to a straight-set sweep in the second half of the March 6 doubleheader.
 
The Owls are led offensively by the CCC's leader in kills, Nicole Reyes. She has notched 198 in the spring campaign, and ranks second in the conference in kills per set with 3.3. Kaylin Talonen (158 kills, 2.6 kills per set) is another offensive weapon employed by OIT head coach Ken Murczek.
 
The 2019 All-Conference honoree Aubrey Kievit (4.20 digs per set) will lead the defensive efforts for the Owls, and Faith Houck-Wylie (41 blocks) and Ireland Bennett (40 blocks) will look to disrupt Corban's attack at the net.
 
The winner of the match will advance to the CCC Tournament Championship—slated for Saturday at 4 p.m.—to battle the victor between top-seeded and No.13 ranked Eastern Oregon University and fourth-seeded Bushnell University. The No. 8-ranked Mountaineers have yet to be defeated in 2020-21, going 14-0 in conference play, and will look to defend their home court in this weekend's tournament.
 
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