COMING UP: at No. 9 Corban, Friday, 7 p.m.; at Bushnell, Saturday, 5 p.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: For fans unable to travel to the Valley, both games will feature a live stream – Friday via Corban's HUDL Streaming Service and Saturday via Bushnell's YouTube Channel. Live Stats for both matches will be available through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Link.
 
NOTE START TIMES: Due to soccer matches on both campuses, the start time for each weekend game has been pushed back one hour – Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
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 – CORBAN: The Owls open the trip to the Valley Friday night against Corban, as the No. 9-ranked Warriors (17-4, 13-3 CCC) are coming off back-to-back 3-set losses for the first time in six years. Corban averages 12.7 kills per set and are among the league leaders in blocking (2.4 per set), thanks to the play of Makayla Roginski (2.80 k/s, 0.89 b/s), Kendra Bittle (2.40 k/s, 1.31 d/s), Emma Bischoff (2.51 k/s, 2.34 d/s, 40 aces) and Allyson Reid (1.74 k/s, 1.27 b/s). Setters Abby Guindy (5.93 a/s, 2.12 d/s) and Nadeiah Howard (4.67 a/s, 1.39 d/s) run the 6-2 offense, with Marissa Uehara (3.68 d/s) the Warriors top defender. OIT looks to snap a 9-match losing streak to Corban, searching for their first win in Salem since 2014, with the Warriors holding a 33-26 all-time series lead.
 
AGAINST THE TOP-25: OIT looks to end a 16-match losing streak against Top-25 teams on Friday – including five losses to ranked foes in 2024. The Owls last win against a Top-25 team was a 4-set win over No. 17-ranked Southern Oregon in 2022, with their last Top-10 win a 5-set win over No. 10-Eastern Oregon in 2015.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – BUSHNELL: Tech travels to Eugene on Saturday night, squaring off against a dangerous Bushnell team, as the Beacons (16-8, 11-5) are on the verge of cracking the Top-25 after completing a season-sweep of College of Idaho. Hailey Heider (2.81 k/s, 3.46 d/s, 30 aces) leads an offense that hits at a .183 clip, recording 12.6 kills and 1.9 aces per set. Joining Heider in the multi-faceted attack are Leah Agost (2.21 k/s, 0.50 b/s), Ariana Guerra (2.80 k/s), Maddy Ladd (2.01 k/s, 0.58 b/s) and Amyah Semau (1.84 k/s, 2.81 d/s, 41 aces). Elijah Sanders (4.73 a/s, 1.28 d/s) is one of three setters in the Beacons rotation, with Bella Parque (4.05 d/s) the libero. OIT dropped a 4-set match to Bushnell in September – evening the all-time series between the clubs to 19-19, with the Owls looking to snap a 6-match losing streak against the Beacons.
 
WINNING SEASONS: OIT heads into the weekend with a 14-10 record, searching for their 16th winning season since volleyball returned to the school in 1998. The Owls have recorded 15 seasons with 15-or-more wins during that time frame, posting 20-plus wins seven times, including a school record 24 victories in 2021.
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE WITH THREE WEEKS LEFT: The Owls enter the home stretch of the Cascade Conference schedule alone in seventh-place in the league standings – one game clear of Walla Walla for eighth place and one game back of LC State for sixth. The two home sweeps over WWU and LC were gigantic in the big picture – as OIT holds the head-to-head tiebreaker on both teams (a sweep of WWU, while Tech split with LC, but won more sets against the Warriors). Northwest and Evergreen State sit in ninth-place and look to crash the party, but have the toughest remaining schedule – including facing each of the top-five teams in the standings.
 
TECH POSTS MOST CCC BLOCKS IN A DECADE: Friday's win over Walla Walla featured the Owls most prolific 3-set blocking match in Cascade Conference play, combining for 16 team blocks in the victory. The mark surpassed the 15 blocks recorded against Corban in 2006 and Northwest in 2007, with the total the most by a CCC team in a 3-set league match since Southern Oregon recorded 17 blocks vs. Tech in 2012.
 
BOYD NAMED SETTER OF THE WEEK: For the second time in four weeks, OIT's Lucy Boyd was named CCC Setter of the Week after leading the Owls to back-to-back home wins. The freshman filled up the stat columns – recording three kills, 26 assists, six digs and five blocks against Walla Walla, while logging her fourth double-double vs. LC State, finishing with five kills, 34 assists, 10 digs and four blocks. Boyd continues to outpace all CCC setters, leading the league in assists per set (7.19).
 
BARRETT DOMINATES THE NET: True freshman Tiana Barrett has embraced her starting spot in the rotation with another stellar weekend at the net. The blocker posted career-highs with eight kills and 10 blocks against Walla Walla, following it up with six kills and five blocks against LC State, hitting at a .333 percentage. Barrett leads the team and ranks second in the CCC in attack percentage (.395), while climbing into the Top-10 in blocks per set (1.07).
 
JUNIORS SHINE: The four juniors who have been a part of the program the past three seasons all were key contributors in the weekend victories – as hitters Willow Jacobson and Savanna Sterck, along with defenders Kaley Whalen and Abagail Sorensen led the way. Jacobson recorded six blocks in Friday's win, while tying a season-high with 10 kills vs. LC State. Sterck led Tech with 11 kills in the Saturday victory, Whalen posted 16 digs in both matches, adding three aces vs. WWU, with Sorensen combining for 17 digs and an ace in the weekend wins.
 
GRACE INCHES CLOSER TO MILESTONE: Molly Grace moved closer to the coveted 1,000-kill mark for her OIT career, combining for 15 kills in the two weekend matches. The senior sits 41 kills away from the milestone, while surpassing 600 digs for her career – joining Nicole Reyes, Krista Wooley and Kelsey Sampson as the only OIT players with at least 950 kills and 600 digs in a career.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: Sweeps by Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon (including an EOU win over Corban) moved the two clubs into a share for first in the CCC standings heading into weekend play, while a Bushnell win at College of Idaho moved the Beacons into sole possession of fourth-place. SOU and OIT have the tough trip this week, traveling to Corban and Bushnell, C of I and EOU are off to Northwest and Evergreen State, with LC State and Walla Walla hosting Multnomah and Warner Pacific.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: As a team, the Lady Owls continue to lead the CCC in digs per set (16.88), ranking No. 4 in blocks per set (2.51), No. 5 in attack percentage (.187), No. 6 in aces per set (1.61) and opponent attack percentage (.154), sitting at No. 7 in both kills per set (11.96) and assists per set (11.36). Individually, Lucy Boyd leads the league in assists per set (7.19), Tiana Barrett is No. 2 in attack percentage (.395) and No. 8 in blocks per set (1.07), Kaley Whalen is No. 3 in digs per set (4.94), Aleksen Thayer is No. 4 in blocks per set (1.27), with Molly Grace No. 5 in aces per set (0.39) and No. 6 in kills per set (3.28).
 
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), Molly Grace is No. 5 in kills (959) and No. 21 in digs (611), Kaley Whalen is No. 6 in digs (1,172) and No. 19 in assists (179), Paige Tevelde is No. 9 in assists (1,368), Lucy Boyd is No. 15 in assists (597), with Aleksen Thayer No. 18 in blocks (188). Abigail Sorensen is just outside the Top-25 in digs (542) and aces (56).
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Lady Owls return home next weekend for their final two home regular-season matches, hosting Warner Pacific (Nov. 1) and a Senior Night match vs. Multnomah (Nov. 2) – as Tech honors the four senior student-athletes on the squad.