COMING UP: at Walla Walla, Friday, 2 p.m.; at Lewis-Clark State, Saturday, 5 p.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Live Video of the road matches will be available for fans unable to head to College Place or Lewiston – with Friday's match at Walla Walla streamed live on the Owls Sports Network (PPV - $7.95, produced by WWU), with Saturday's match at LC State stream on LCSC's Warrior Sports Network. Both matches will also have Live Stats via OIT's SIDEARM Stat Portal.
 
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 – WALLA WALLA: The road swing opens up early Friday afternoon and a match-up against an improved Walla Walla squad. The Wolves (1-16, 1-15 CCC) took a set off of OIT in the first meeting and picked up their first Cascade Conference victory with a home win over Warner Pacific. WWU has struggled offensively, averaging 7.4 kills per set, while allowing over three aces per set. Femke Eising (1.98 k/s, 1.79 d/s) is the go-to hitter, with Lauren Moody (1.28 k/s, 1.87 d/s, 15 aces) and Natalia Jimenez (1.22 k/s, 0.33 b/s) other options, with setter Danielle Faamausili (3.57 a/s, 2.02 d/s) running the attack.
 
HISTORY VS. THE WOLVES: The Lady Owls will put a 19-match win streak against Walla Walla on the line Friday afternoon, as Tech is a perfect 19-0 all-time against the Washington school. It marks the eighth meeting between the teams on the Wolves home court – including last season's 25-15, 25-15, 25-18 OIT win.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – LEWIS-CLARK STATE: Saturday's match-up in Idaho will be key in the postseason chase, as Tech and LC State are vying for the No. 7 seed in the CCC Championships. The Warriors (7-14, 6-10) have mirrored Tech's wins-and-losses throughout the league slate, averaging 11.2 kills and 1.8 aces per set. Outside hitter Juliauna Forgach Aguilar (3.81 k/s, 0.41 b/s) ranks second in the CCC in kills per set, with Gianna Anderson (2.38 k/s, 1.23 d/s) and Karissa Lindner (1.24 k/s, 0.94 b/s) key offensive options for first-year head coach Katie Palmer. LC has rotated three setters throughout the season, with Abbey Neff (4.37 a/s, 1.40 d/s) and Sofie Langer (4.02 a/s, 1.11 d/s) playing the bulk of the rotations, with All-CCC libero Kenzie Dean (4.20 d/s) anchoring the defense.
 
HISTORY VS. THE WARRIORS: OIT picked up a key 3-set victory over LCSC in the first meeting, improving the Owls all-time series lead with LC State to 9-7. It is the ninth meeting between the teams in Lewiston, with Tech winning five of the previous eight meetings.
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE: The Lady Owls magic number to clinch a berth in the expanded 8-team Cascade Conference Championships is two – any combination of OIT wins and Evergreen State losses will send the squad to their 16th postseason appearance since 1998 and the third playoff appearance in the last four year. A win on Saturday at LC State would give Tech the tiebreak over the Warriors (as would a set victory – as OIT swept LCSC in the first match-up) – for the No. 7 seed in the play-in round of the CCC Championships.
 
OWLS GET DEFENSIVE: Defense was key in Friday's win over Multnomah, as the Lady Owls forced 30 attack errors by the Lions – the most attack errors by an opponent in a 3-set match in over a decade. MU finished the night hitting at a -.046 percentage – the lowest offensive output by an OIT foe in two seasons. It marked the sixth time in the last 10 seasons that an opponent had an -.040 or worse hitting percentage against the Owls, including the school record -.196 attack percentage in a 2018 win over Mills College in 2018.
 
BIG WEEK FROM HICKS: Tech was paced offensively and defensively by Kate Hicks, who combined for 29 kills and 15 blocks in the three matches. The junior recorded a career-high 10 kills at Southern Oregon and matched the total against Multnomah, while recording at least four blocks in all three matches. Hicks has recorded at least two blocks in 15-straight matches, while becoming the first Lady Owl to have three stuff blocks in a match in two seasons. For the week, the middle blocker hit at a solid .350 percentage.
 
GRACE JOINS ELITE COMPANY: Molly Grace had a dominant Saturday night, powering down 18 kills in the 3-set win over Warner Pacific. It was the second time this season the junior had 18-or-more kills in a 3-set match – joining Krista Wooley and Chase Bohman as the only players to accomplish the feat more than once (Grace is one of 10 players to have 18-plus kills in a 3-set match, with the recent performance in 17th time an OIT player has recorded the mark). Grace hit at a stellar .571 percentage on the night, while posting her fourth double-double of season – with the outside hitter averaging 3.4 digs over her last seven matches.
 
STREAKS CONTINUE: Three statistical streaks continue for a trio of OIT players – including libero Kaley Whalen, who has recorded 10-or-more digs in 16-straight matches. Whalen had 20 digs against Multnomah, her eighth match of 2023 with 20-or-more digs. Willow Jacobson tied a career-high with seven blocks at Southern Oregon – recording 6-straight matches with at least two blocks. Middle blocker Aleksen Thayer continued her strong season at the net – recording at last one block in all 23 matches this season (including 19 matches with at least two blocks).
 
SETTERS SOLID: Tech shared setter duties during the three matches – with Brooke Cassidy setting during the three back-row rotations and Paige Tevelde handling the setting in the front row. Cassidy finished the weekend average 5.4 assists and 2.6 digs per set, adding four aces, with Tevelde averaging 4.9 assists and 0.5 blocks per set.
 
400TH WIN: With the Lady Owls victory on Friday night against Multnomah, OIT earned their 400th win since volleyball returned to the school in 1998. Heading into weekend play, Tech now has a 401-347 all-time record in the 26 years of the modern program (OIT had a volleyball program up until 1991 – but records from the earlier era are incomplete).
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Four top teams in the league had perfect weeks – including Corban and Southern Oregon earning three victories and College of Idaho picking up their second head-to-head win over Northwest. This week, Corban and Bushnell will head for key matches at Northwest and Evergreen State; C of I and Eastern Oregon travel to Portland to meet Warner Pacific and Multnomah, with SOU and OIT off to Walla Walla and LC State.
 
CONFERENCE NUMBERS: As a team, the Owls rank No. 4 in the CCC in digs per set (15.55), No. 6 in blocks per set (1.84), No. 7 in hitting percentage (.160) and aces per set (1.34), ranking No. 8 in kills per set (11.22) and assists per set (10.30). Individually, Paige Tevelde leads the league in assists per set (5.96), Molly Grace is No. 3 in kills per set (3.39) 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 Kate Hicks leads the group, ranking No. 9 in total blocks (239). Brooke Cassidy is No. 13 in aces (81), 14 in assists (777) and just outside the Top-25 in sets played (307), Paige Tevelde is No. 11 in assists (1,054), with Molly Grace No. 19 in kills (598) and Kaley Whalen No. 20 in digs (613).
 
NEXT WEEK: The Lady Owls close out their home schedule next weekend, hosting Northwest on Friday (Oct. 27) and Evergreen State on Saturday (Oct. 28). The Evergreen State match will mark Senior Night for the lone OIT senior student-athlete, setter Brooke Cassidy, who will be honored prior to the match.