COMING UP: at No. 16 Southern Oregon, Wednesday, 6 p.m.; vs. Multnomah, Friday, 7 p.m.; vs. Warner Pacific, Saturday, 5 p.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Live Video of all three matches will be available online via the Owls Sports Network with Mike Safford Jr. on the call for Friday and Saturday's contests. Each of the matches will also have Live Stats via OIT's SIDEARM Stat Portal. For fans coming to the game, general admission tickets are $8.00 or can be purchased online through the OIT Ticket Portal. Fans are asked to wear pink to the game on Friday to draw awareness to breast cancer research and green to Saturday's match to draw awareness to mental health.
 
MULTIMEDIA: All photos from the 2023 season will be posted online via the OIT Volleyball Flickr Page, while highlight clips and interviews will be posted online via the new OIT Volleyball You Tube Channel.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – SOUTHERN OREGON: The final 3-match week of the regular-season starts Wednesday at rival Southern Oregon, as the Owls put a 2-match win streak inside Lithia Motors Pavilion against the Raiders (16-5, 9-4) on the line. Tech took the opening set against SOU in the Basin last month, before the No. 16-ranked team rallied for a win. SOU had lost 3-of-4 before a Saturday sweep of College of Idaho, thanks to an offense averaging 12.9 kills per set and a defense averaging 2.6 blocks a set. Marin Mackey (3.03 k/s, 2.42 d/s), Megan Perry (2.73 k/s, 0.79 b/s) and Hannah Stadstad (2.53 k/s, 0.73 b/s) lead the attack, with Sadie Byrd (1.38 k/s, 1.39 b/s) key at the net. Vitoria Mattos (5.54 a/s, 1.59 d/s) and Annie Hite (4.79 a/s, 1.19 d/s) share setter duties, with Kayla Neidigh (3.60 d/s) the top defender. SOU holds the all-time series lead, winning 52-of-60 match-ups – with the Raiders snapping a 4-match overall losing streak to Tech in September.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – MULTNOMAH: Tech returns home Friday night with a rematch against Multnomah, as the Lions (2-11) gave the Lady Owls all they could ask for in a 4-set OIT win last month in Portland. MU is much improved in 2023 – defeating both Evergreen and Walla Walla, while last weekend taking a set off of Corban. The Lions average over 10 kills per set, while averaging 1.7 aces per set – including nine in the loss to the Owls. Maya Blake (2.98 k/s, 2.06 d/s) is the go-to player on offense, joined by the tandem of Jocelynn Porter (1.52 k/s, 0,70 b/s) and Tamia Allen Greggs (1.58 k/s, 0.37 b/s). Setters Eliana Dean (4.09 a/s, 1.51 d/s) and Alyana Henderson (3.89 a/s, 1.28 d/s, 17 aces) run the 2-setter offense, with libero Lauren Porter (5.45 d/s, 14 aces) leading the CCC in digs per set. It is the 20th all-time meeting, with OIT holding a perfect 19-0 series advantage.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – WARNER PACIFIC: The weekend closes out on Saturday, hosting a Warner Pacific squad looking to end a 10-match and 30-set losing streak. The Knights (1-19, 1-12) earned their lone win of the season on Sept. 5 vs. Multnomah, but have struggled since, averaging just 7.2 kills and a .066 hitting percentage. WPU will look to middle blocker Elizabeth Reid (2.46 k/s, 0.48 b/s) and opposite hitter Maryann Tulele (1.26 k/s, 2.42 d/s) as their top offensive options, with Kyla Reiling (5.11 a/s) handling the setter duties and Alyssa Asuncion (2.43 d/s) the libero. OIT holds a 39-9 all-time series lead on WPU, including winning each of the previous night matches.
 
400 WINS: Tech heads into the week with a 399-346 record since the program returned in 1998, with the next victory the 400th in modern history.
 
OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Facing quality opponents in College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon, Willow Jacobson headlined the Tech attack, leading the team in kills on consecutive nights. The sophomore had nine kills vs. C of I, adding 12 against EOU, while combining for seven blocks. Molly Grace returned to the line-up, combining for 15 kills and 28 digs in the two matches, with Aleksen Thayer tying a season-high with seven kills vs. Eastern.
 
WHALEN EXTENDS STREAK: Libero Kaley Whalen extended her streak of matches with double-digit digs to 13 – logging 13 digs vs. C of I and 20 digs vs. EOU. The sophomore has posted seven matches in 2023 with 20-or-more digs.
 
2-SETTER SYSTEM WORKS: Throughout the weekend, Tech utilized a modified 6-1 offense – with Brooke Cassidy serving as the back row setter and Paige Tevelde setting in the front row. Cassidy had 13 assists and five digs vs. C of I, adding 19 assists and a season-high nine digs vs. EOU. Tevelde had three kills in each match, adding 13 assists vs. C of I and 15 assists, plus two blocks, vs. Eastern – surpassing the 1,000-assist mark for her OIT career.
 
A SET OFF EASTERN: The Lady Owls gave No. 4-ranked Eastern Oregon everything they could handle on Saturday night – as the Mounties needed a Set 4 rally to hold off upset-minded OIT. Tech's Set 1 victory was the first CCC set loss for EOU outside of their lone league loss at Northwest and just their seventh set loss of 2023.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Both Eastern and Corban remained atop the CCC standings after recording road wins, with Northwest sitting two games off the pace, while C of I, Southern and Bushnell are three games back. Three midweek matches will be played (Multnomah-Warner, OIT-SOU, Bushnell-Corban) before the full slate of weekend matches – as Walla Walla and LC State travel to Corban and Bushnell, Evergreen and Northwest head to EOU and C of I, with Multnomah and Warner off to OIT and Southern.
 
CONFERENCE NUMBERS: As a team, the Owls rank No. 4 in the CCC in digs per set (15.40), No. 7 in hitting percentage (.159) and No. 8 in kills per set (11.14), assists per set (10.41), aces per set (1.36) and blocks per set (1.74). Individually, Paige Tevelde leads the league in assists per set (6.12), Molly Grace is No. 3 in kills per set (3.40) and Kaley Whalen is No. 4 in digs per set (4.55).
 
RECORD BOOK: Five OIT players currently rank among the Top-25 in the all-time career record book – as Paige Tevelde leads the group, ranking No. 11 in assists (1,005). Brooke Cassidy is No. 14 in assists (728) and No. 15 in aces (77), Kate Hicks is No. 13 in blocks (224), with Molly Grace No. 21 in kills (565) and Kaley Whalen No. 24 in digs (567).
 
NEXT WEEK: The Lady Owls hit the road for a pair of matches – next Friday afternoon at Walla Walla (2 p.m.) and next Saturday at Lewis-Clark State (5 p.m.)