COMING UP: vs. Walla Walla, Friday, 2 p.m.; vs. Lewis-Clark State, Saturday, 4 p.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: For fans unable to travel to Klamath, both weekend matches will be streamed live on the Owls Sports Network, with Mike Safford on the call. Live Stats for both matches will be available through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Link. Saturday's match will also serve as the Owls announce Dig Pink Night to draw awareness to breast cancer research – with fans asked to wear pink to the game.
 
NOTE FRIDAY START TIME: Friday's match will have a 2 p.m. start time to accommodate Walla Walla's Seventh Day Adventist religious Sabbath (sundown Friday through sundown Saturday).
 
MULTIMEDIA: All photos from the 2024 season will be posted online via the OIT Volleyball Flickr Page, while game highlight clips will be posted online via the OIT Volleyball You Tube Channel.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – WALLA WALLA: The short homestand opens against the biggest surprise in the Cascade Conference, as Walla Walla is on the verge of their first postseason appearance in any sport in program history. The Wolves (7-9, 6-8 CCC) have set a new school-record for wins, have split with LC State, while winning sets against Corban, Eastern Oregon, College of Idaho and Bushnell, powered by an attack averaging 12.9 kills a set and hitting at a .197 clip. On the flip side, WWU allows nearly two aces a set and opponents average 2.3 blocks a set. Sahara Browning (4.76 k/s, 2.85 d/s) leads the CCC (and ranks No. 5 in the NAIA) in kills per set, with Natalia Jiminez (3.19 k/s, 2.14 d/s) and Femke Eising (2.02 k/s, 0.36 b/s) secondary options. Setters Daniella Faamausili (5.88 a/s, 1.93 d/s) and Melissa Monterroza (4.08 a/s, 1.92 d/s) direct the attack, with Idalis Bedore (3.38 d/s) the top defender. Tech swept the first meeting between the schools last month, with OIT holding a perfect 21-0 all-time record vs. the Wolves.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – LEWIS-CLARK STATE: Saturday afternoon, Tech plays host to Lewis-Clark State, as the Warriors (11-8, 8-6) make the long trip after a tough home loss against Northwest – part of a string of five losses in seven matches. LC has one of the top hitters in the league in Juliana Forgach Aguilar (4.62 k/s, 1.18 d/s, 0.53 b/s), who recorded 22 kills in the Warriors 4-set win in Lewiston. Taylor Boyce (2.99 k/s) added 20 kills in the win, with Missy Mortensen (1.17 k/s, 0.92 b/s) the Warriors top player at the net. Look for Abbey Neff (3.77 a/s, 1.52 d/s) and Esther Kailiponi (4.31 a/s, 1.85 d/s, 21 aces) to handle setting duties, with Natany Felix Guimara (4.83 d/s) serving as the libero. The two teams have split the 18 previous meetings, but OIT has picked up wins in 4-of-5 matches in the Basin.
 
KEY TIE BREAKS: A match win vs. Walla Walla would give Tech the tiebreaker over the Wolves in the Cascade Conference standings, as would one set win over WWU (second tie break is sets won by a team head-to-head). OIT would claim a tiebreaker over LC State with a sweep of the Warriors (winning the sets-won tiebreaker).
 
TECH FINISHES TRIP 2-3: The longest road trip of the Cascade Conference season is in the books, with the Lady Owls finishing the 5-game swing with a 2-3 record. Offense was the key in the wins and losses – hitting at a .288 clip or better in the two wins, while hitting at a .138 clip or lower in the three losses. OIT fell to 0-5 this season against Top-25 teams and dropped to 1-8 against teams currently ranked or receiving votes.
 
BARRETT'S RUN ENDS AT EASTERN: True freshman Tiana Barrett has had an impressive first year with the Lady Owls, heading into weekend play with a .414 attack percentage. The middle blocker had a string of matches without a hitting error stopped at EOU – having posted four-straight contests without a hitting error, combining for 22 kills on 32 swings (.688).
 
GRACE INCHES CLOSER: Molly Grace moved into a tie for fifth-place on the OIT all-time kills list with a 16-kill effort at Eastern Oregon – pulling even with former teammate Kaylin Talonen with 944 career kills – 56 kills away from the 1,000-kill milestone. The senior recorded her tenth double-double of the season against EOU and heads into the weekend averaging 3.34 kills and 3.29 digs per set – one of only two CCC players to average 3-or-more kills and 3-or-more digs per set (Marin Mackey of Southern Oregon is the other).
 
THAYER EXTENDS BLOCK STREAK: Middle blocker Aleksen Thayer continued a remarkable streak by posting two blocks at College of Idaho and five blocks at Eastern Oregon. The sophomore has recorded a block in every collegiate match she has played in – each of the 30 matches from 2023 and all 22 matches this season. Thayer's effort at EOU was the ninth match of 2024 with 5-or-more blocks – one of five Lady Owls to have at least five blocks in a match (Willow Jacobson – 4, Kate Hicks – 3, Molly Grace – 2, Lucy Boyd – 1)
 
TOP DEFENSE: The Owls continue to play the best defense in the CCC, leading the circuit in digs per set (16.70) and are fourth in blocks per set (2.48) – with the team allowing the third-fewest aces per set (1.25). Tech has had at least one player record double-digit digs in all 22 matches in 2024 – with Kaley Whalen recording 12 digs at C of I and 19 at EOU, Abigail Sorensen recording 12 digs at EOU and Molly Grace logging 11 digs in both weekend matches.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: Chaos continues to reign in the Cascade Conference, as No. 5-ranked Southern Oregon cruised to a road win at No. 3-ranked Eastern Oregon, but dropped a 3-set decision the next day at College of Idaho. While Corban and Bushnell ran their win streaks to four, Lewis-Clark State was upended at home vs. Northwest and Walla Walla was topped at home by Evergreen State. Corban sits as the only 1-loss team in the league, a game in the loss column ahead of EOU and SOU, with Tech a half-game ahead of Evergreen for the final playoff spot – just one game back of seventh-place and three games back of sixth.  This week, Corban and Bushnell head to C of I and Eastern, Evergreen and Northwest make the trip to Portland to meet Warner Pacific and Multnomah, with OIT and SOU hosting WWU and LC State.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: As a team, the Lady Owls lead the CCC in digs per set (16.70), ranking No. 4 in blocks per set (2.48), No. 6 in aces per set (1.60) and No. 7 in kills per set (11.95), assists per set (11.35), hitting percentage (.187) and opponent hitting percentage (.160). Individually, Lucy Boyd leads the league in assists per set (6.95), Kaley Whalen ranks No.  3 in digs per set (4.91), Aleksen Thayer is No. 4 in blocks per set (1.28), with Molly Grace No. 5 in kills per set (3.34) and No. 6 in aces per set (0.39).
 
RECORD BOOK: Six players are currently ranked in the Top-25 of the OIT career record book – with Kate Hicks No. 3 in blocks (313) – 15 blocks away from the all-time school record, Molly Grace is No. 5 in kills (944) and No. 22 in digs (589), Kaley Whalen is No. 6 in digs (1,140) and No. 21 in assists (174), Paige Tevelde is No. 9 in assists (1,368), Lucy Boyd is No. 15 in assists (537), with Aleksen Thayer No. 18 in blocks (181). Abigail Sorensen is just outside the Top-25 in digs (525) and aces (55).
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Lady Owls head to the Valley next weekend, squaring off against two of the Top-4 teams in the league – CCC-leading Corban (Oct. 25 | 7 p.m.) and fourth-place Bushnell (Oct. 26 | 5 p.m.).