COMING UP: vs. Lewis-Clark State, Friday, 7 p.m.; vs. Walla Walla, Saturday, 9 p.m.; vs. No. 19 Southern Oregon (Tuesday, 9/12), 6 p.m.

COMPLETE INTERACTIVE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION: All three matches at Danny Miles Court will feature free Live Video on the Owls Sports Network with Mike Safford on the call, with Live Stats via OIT's SIDEARM Stat Portal. Tickets for all volleyball matches can be purchased online through the OIT Ticket Portal – with season tickets set at $60.00, individual general admission tickets, $8.00 and student/senior/military tickets, $5.00.
 
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.
 
NOTE GAME TIME CHANGES: Typically, Friday home matches are set for 7 p.m., with Saturday matches set for 5 p.m. This week, start times are a bit different – Friday's match with LC State is still set for 7 p.m., however, Saturday's contest with Walla Walla will be played at 9 p.m. (to comply with WWU's religious Sabbath), with the midweek Tuesday matchup vs. Southern Oregon to be played at 6 p.m.
 
HOME OPENERS: After playing their first nine matches away from home, the Lady Owls make their Danny Miles Court debut this weekend – hosting Lewis-Clark State and Walla Walla. Tech is a combined 17-8 in home openers since the program returned in 1998 – including wins in four of their last five games.
 
AT DANNY MILES COURT: The Lady Owls have posted a 162-100 record since volleyball returned to OIT in 1998 – looking to record their fifth-straight winning season on their home floor. Tech finished last season with a 6-5 mark on Danny Miles Court, with their best single-season home record coming in 2021, with the Owls finishing the year, 12-2.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – LEWIS-CLARK STATE: For the second-straight season, OIT will open their 11-match home schedule against Lewis-Clark State, as the Warriors (3-5, 2-1 CCC) will try to extend a 3-match win streak in the series. LC split a pair of home matches over the weekend, dropping a 5-set encounter with Northwest, before rolling to a sweep over Evergreen State. The Warriors are averaging 11.5 kills and 1.8 blocks per set for new head coach Katie Palmer, led by the CCC's top hitter, Juliauna Forgach Aguilar (4.09 k/s, 11 aces). Both Gianna Anderson (2.47 k/s, 1.16 d/s) and Karissa Linder (1.26 k/s, 0.87 b/s) are off to solid starts, as are setters Sofie Langer (4.62 k/s, 1.34 d/s) and Abbey Neff (4.58 a/s, 1.67 d/s), along with libero Kenzie Dean (4.18 d/s).
 
HISTORY VS. THE WARRIORS: The two squads have played 15 previous matches, with OIT holding a slim 8-7 series advantage. OIT and LC first met in 1999 (a Warriors win in Spokane), while the teams have split the six matches since the Idaho school joined the Cascade Conference. In 2007 and 2021, the two teams met in the postseason – LC winning a 3-set contest in the NAIA Region I Tournament, while in 2021, Tech returned the favor in the CCC quarterfinals.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – WALLA WALLA: Late Saturday night, Tech welcomes Walla Walla, looking to continue a long win streak against the Wolves (0-4, 0-3). WWU has struggled since joining the league, going 1-127 in conference counters since 2016 – with the 2023 team averaging just 5.9 kills and 0.4 blocks per set. Top hitters include Lauren Moody (1.42 k/s, 1.33 d/s), Femke Eising (1.50 k/s, 1.17 d/s) and Natalia Jimenez (1.33 k/s, 0.50 b/s), with setters Danielle Faamausili (2.42 a/s, 2.00 d/s) and Meherio Krainer (1.92 a/s, 1.75 d/s) running the offense.
 
HISTORY VS. THE WOLVES: OIT has dominated the series, winning all 18 previous matches – winning 54 of the 58 sets played. The Lady Owls have not allowed WWU to reach 20 points in a set since the 2017 season.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – SOUTHERN OREGON: The 3-match homestand ends next Tuesday vs. rival Southern Oregon, as the No. 19-ranked Raiders (8-2, 1-1) are off to a quality start – with their lone two losses coming to Top-25 teams. SOU has won games at the net, averaging 12.7 kills per set and leading the league in blocking (3.1 b/s). Both Megan Perry (3.03 k/s, 0.85 b/s) and Marin Mackey (3.00 k/s, 2.33 d/s) average 3-or-more kills per set, with Sadie Byrd (1.40 k/s, 1.37 b/s) among the top middles. Setters Victoria Mattos (5.52 a/s, 1.77 d/s) and Annie Hite (4.44 a/s, 1.09 d/s) share duties, with the Raiders returning libero Kayla Neidigh (3.45 d/s).
 
HISTORY VS. THE RAIDERS: Since volleyball returned to Tech in 1998, SOU has dominated the all-time series, winning 51-of-59 match-ups. However, the recent series has favored the Lady Owls, as OIT swept the season series in 2021 and last season, Tech claimed 4-set victories both in Ashland and Klamath Falls – their first 4-match win streak in the rivalry.
 
TOUGH ROAD TRIP FOR THE LADY OWLS: Historically, the road trip to Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho is the toughest for the Lady Owls year in and year out – and 2023 was no different. Tech dropped straight-set decisions at both venues – combining for 47 kills and 43 errors in the two matches, while the opposition posted 85 combined kills.
 
STREAKS INTACT: Despite the rough trip eastward, individual numbers continued to pile up for the Lady Owls. Freshman middle blocker Aleksen Thayer and sophomore outside hitter Savanna Sterck each recorded at least one block in both matches – with both players logging at least one block in every 2023 match. Sterck is the lone player on the team to record at least one kill, one dig and one block in all nine contests. In addition, freshman setter Aubrey Stennett posted her first career double-double at College of Idaho, registering 19 assists and 13 digs.
 
CONFERENCE NUMBERS: As a team, Tech ranks No. 7 in the CCC in blocks per set (1.75), No. 8 in hitting percentage (.138), assists per set (9.06), kills per set (10.12), aces per set (1.29) and digs per set (13.62), ranking No. 9 in opponents hitting percentage (.242). Individually, Paige Tevelde leads the league, averaging 6.65 assists per set, with Kaley Whalen No. 5 in digs per set (3.91) and Molly Grace No. 7 in kills per set (2.78).
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Four teams opened their conference schedule with 2-0 records – Eastern Oregon, Corban, Bushnell and Northwest. EOU had the marquee win, rolling to a straight-set victory over nationally-ranked Southern Oregon, while Northwest went on the road and earned victories at Lewis-Clark State and Walla Walla. Over the next week, three travel partner matches (Corban-Bushnell, Warner Pacific-Multnomah and Northwest-Evergreen) will take place, while NU and Evergreen hit the road to Corban and Bushnell, with Multnomah and Warner Pacific traveling to EOU and College of Idaho.
 
NEXT WEEK: Following the midweek match-up with Southern Oregon, Tech travels to Portland for road dates at Warner Pacific and Multnomah.