COMING UP: at Magic Island Hawai'i Classic (Honolulu, Hawaii) – Friday vs. U. of Providence, 1:30 p.m. (HST); Saturday vs. Benedictine Mesa, 9 a.m. (HST); vs. Truett-McConnell, 6 p.m. (HST)
CLICK HERE FOR INTERACTIVE DIGITAL MEDIA NOTEBOOK
GAMEDAY INFORMATION: All three games from the Magic Island Hawai'i Classic will be streamed online through the
tournament host site (PPV - $10.95), with Live Stats available through Eastern Oregon's
SIDEARM Sports 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.
ABOUT PROVIDENCE: The University of Providence (formerly University of Great Falls) squares off against the Lady Owls for the first time since 2013, with the Argos (4-0) off to a quick start – including wins over Evergreen State and College of Idaho. The Frontier Conference school was picked fourth in the league preseason poll, looking to rebound from a 10-20 season that ended a streak of 4-straight NAIA Tournament appearances. The top two hitters return – Nina Janjic (2.80 k/s, 0.60 b/s) on the opposite pin and Mady Hoerner (2.73 k/s) on the outside, as does top blocker, Cabry Taylor (1.29 k/s, 1.21 b/s). Setter Bella Thompson (5.27 a/s, 2.00 d/s) was a FC All-Freshman Team pick in 2022. OIT is a combined 12-13 all-time against the Frontier, including a 1-2 mark against UP.
ABOUT BENEDICTINE MESA: Tech opens Day 2 of the tournament against the defending California Pacific Conference champions, as the Redhawks (3-0) posted a 24-7 record in 2022 – advancing to the NAIA Championships, before losing to Corban. BenU swept a pair of games vs. NCCAA foe Justice College before a dominating win against GSAC contender, OUAZ – hitting at a stellar .314 percentage and recording 3.6 aces per set. The Redhawks are led by a pair of standouts – 3-time all-conference outside hitter Brianna Rivera (3.57 k/s, 2.29 d/s, 9 aces) and 2-time all-conference opposite Kylie Bartel (3.13 k/s). Middle blocker Hailey White (2.29 k/s, 1.14 b/s) returns, as does setter Annika Wallace (8.33 a/s, 1.56 d/s). It is the first-ever meeting between the schools.
ABOUT TRUETT-MCCONNELL: The tourney finale features a match-up against Appalachian Athletic Conference foe Truett-McConnell, from Cleveland, Ga. – the easternmost team OIT has ever faced, surpassing Huntington of Indiana. The Bears (0-0) are coming off a 19-18 season in 2022 and return nine seniors from a squad that averaged 11.4 kills and 1.5 blocks per set. All-AAC outside hitter Katie Williams (3.04 k/s, 2.27 d/s) set a program record for kills in a season last year, with All-AAC middle blocker Ranavia Neal (2.12 k/s, 0.67 b/s) their top defender at the net. Libero Deomi Valmus (3.87 d/s) returns for TMU, but the Bears will need to replace setter Brooklynn Brock (7.90 a/s, 2.13 d/s). It is the first meeting between the teams and the first meeting with an AAC squad.
OFF TO THE MAGIC ISLAND HAWAI'I CLASSIC: OIT made the long journey across the Pacific Ocean to Oahu, set to compete in the Magic Island Hawai'i Classic at Hawaii Pacific University. The 8-team event features two teams from the Appalachian Athletic Conference (Bryan, Truett-McConnell), two teams from the Cascade Conference (Eastern Oregon, OIT), two teams from the California Pacific Conference (Embry-Riddle, Benedictine-Mesa), plus Jessup from the Golden State Athletic Conference and Providence from the Frontier Conference. It is the second year of the tournament, with Year 1 featuring exclusively NCAA Division II teams.
LADY OWLS GO 1-3 IN ASHLAND: New players and a new coaching staff made their OIT debut at the Raider Invitational in Ashland, with the Lady Owls finishing the weekend with a 1-3 record. On Day 1, Tech had a two-set lead on Embry-Riddle, before the Eagles rallied in the final three sets for a win, while the Owls took No. 25-ranked Jessup to the brink before losing Set 5, 15-13. Day 2 was similar, as the Owls rallied in Set 5 to outlast Menlo College for head coach
Alexis Garrison's first win as head coach, with OIT picking up a set win against a Vanguard side that featured an extremely tall front row (all players 6-foot-2 or taller).
MARATHON MATCHES: All four matches at the Raider Invitational were extended, with the first three contests reaching fifth sets. It marked the first time since 2017 that OIT played 3-straight 5-set matches, with the 16-14 Set 5 win over Menlo the first extended fifth-set win (beyond 15 points) since a 2016 win over Warner Pacific. The win over Menlo ended a 4-match losing streak in 5-set contests, dating back to a win at Simpson to start the 2022 season.
SOPHOMORE HITTERS HAVE BREAKOUT WEEKENDS: It was a big season opening weekend for sophomores
Savanna Sterck and
Willow Jacobson, as the duo made the move from role players in 2022 to starters in 2023. Sterck had a standout weekend from the outside, leading the Lady Owls with 54 kills in the tournament, averaging 2.84 kills per set (No. 7 in the CCC) and adding 0.58 blocks per set. The second-year player recorded 10-or-more kills in all four matches, including a career-high 19 kills against Embry-Riddle. Jacobson made her debut on the right side, averaging 1.79 kills and 1.89 digs per set – tying a career-high with 10 kills vs ERAU and setting a new career-high with 17 digs vs. Jessup.
GRACE STEADY ON THE OUTSIDE: Returning hitter,
Molly Grace, made the move from the opposite pin to the left side – and picked up right where she left off during the 2022 season. The junior averaged 2.71 kills per set in Ashland (No. 8 in the CCC), establishing a new single-match career high with 17 kills against Jessup.
BLOCKERS KEY: Production at the net was key throughout the tournament, as junior
Kate Hicks and freshman
Aleksen Thayer had solid weekends both offensively and defensively. Hicks started the season with a monster match vs. Embry-Riddle, tying a career-high with nine kills and posting a career-high nine blocks – equaling the kills mark against Jessup. Thayer made the most of her first weekend as a collegiate player, recording 3-or-more blocks in all four matches – including five kills and five blocks in the win over Menlo – averaging a team-high 0.74 blocks per set.
ONE SETTER SYSTEM: The Lady Owls opened the season running a 5-1 offensive, with returning setter
Paige Tevelde playing six rotations. The junior finished the tournament averaging 7.28 assists per set, including a pair of double-doubles – recording 25 assists and a career-high 16 digs in the loss to Vanguard, while filling up the stat sheet with six kills, 34 assists and 12 digs in the win over Menlo.
A LOOK AT THE BACK ROW: Tech rotated a trio of players in defensive specialist roles – as
Kaley Whalen served as the libero, with
Abigail Sorensen and
Autumn Williams replacing front-row hitters. Whalen had a big start to her sophomore season, averaging 4.79 digs per set (No. 2 in the CCC) – recording 19-or-more digs in all four matches, including a career-high 28 digs in the win over Menlo. Sorensen recorded a career-high 16 digs vs. Jessup and led all OIT players with four aces vs. Menlo. Williams was key in the Menlo win, recording 16 digs.
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: No. 3-ranked Eastern Oregon was the lone unbeaten team in the CCC after the opening weekend of competition, sweeping four games in Montana at the Big Sky Challenge. No. 20-ranked Southern Oregon sits at 7-1 after winning 3-of-4 at their home tournament and sweeping four matches in California. No. 2-ranked Corban is 3-2 – dropping matches to unranked Vanguard and No. 7 Viterbo. This week, Corban continues matches in Nebraska at the Midland Invite; College of Idaho and Northwest are at the Hope International SummerSlam; with Lewis-Clark State in Arizona at the ACU Challenge.
NEXT WEEK: Cascade Conference play opens with the Lady Owls on the road, playing Friday (Sept. 1) at Eastern Oregon and Saturday (Sept. 2) at College of Idaho.
- OIT -
