COMING UP: vs. No. 10 Southern Oregon, Thursday, 6 p.m.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION: Thursday's rivalry matchup with Southern Oregon will be carried live on the Owls Sports Network (now powered via YouTube) with Mike Safford on the call. In addition, Live Stats will be available via OIT's SIDEARM Stat Portal. Tickets can be purchased on game day starting one hour prior to first serve – with ticket prices
 
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.
 
NOTE – CONFERENCE GAME TIME CHANGES: The Cascade Conference volleyball coaches voted during the offseason to change the start times of weekend matches for the 2024 season. Friday matches are now set for 6 p.m. (instead of 7 p.m.), while Saturday matches are now set for 4 p.m. (instead of 5 p.m.) – allowing road teams to depart for home at an earlier hour.
 
CONFERENCE OPENER: Thursday's matchup with Southern Oregon marks the start of the Cascade Conference schedule, as the Lady Owls embark on a 22-game trek over the next 11 weeks. OIT will play a home-and-home series with each of the other 11 CCC schools, with the Top-8 teams in the final standings earning CCC Tournament berths (the first/second-place teams earn byes to the CCC semifinals, the third/fourth-place teams earn byes to the CCC quarterfinals, while the No. 5-8 seeds play in a first-round match-up. The regular-season champion and the tournament champion receive automatic bids to the NAIA Championships.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – SOUTHERN OREGON: Coming off back-to-back trips to the NAIA National Championships, the Raiders (6-0), ranking No. 10 in the NAIA Preseason Top-25 Coaches' Poll, have dominated their six opponents in 2024 – blitzing foes to the tune of 13.3 kills per set, 2.9 aces per set, 2.4 blocks per set and a stellar .284 attack percentage. SOU returns a pair of All-Americans – 6-rotation outside hitter Marin Mackey (3.11 k/s, 3.22 d/s, 14 aces) and right side hitter Hannah Stadstad (2.18 k/s, 0.65 b/s) – along with All-CCC picks in middle blocker Sadie Byrd (1.53 k/s, 1.05 b/s) and right side hitter Megan Perry (2.72 k/s, 1.17 b/s). Setters Vitoria Mattos (5.94 a/s, 1.72 d/s) and Annie Hite (4.12 a/s, 1.94 d/s) are both back, as is libero Kayla Neidigh (4.38 d/s).
 
THE CLASH OF THE CASCADES: Since OIT returned to the volleyball court in 1998, the Owls rivals from Ashland have been their toughest opponent – posting a combined 8-53 record against Southern. However, over the past three seasons, the pendulum has swung a bit, with Tech winning four of the past six meetings.
 
TOP-25 GAMES: The date with SOU is the first Top-25 match-up for the Lady Owls this season, with OIT looking to snap an 11-match losing streak against Top-25 clubs – dating back to a 4-set win over No. 17-ranked Southern during the 2022 season. Tech's last Top-10 victory was on Halloween night in 2015, a 5-set home win over No. 10 Eastern Oregon.
 
AT HOME: The Owls head into the season with a 168-105 mark at Danny Miles Court over the past 26 seasons, including 5-straight winning seasons on their home floor. During that stretch, OIT is a combined 17-9 in home openers, including wins in four of their last six home opening dates.
 
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN': For the first time in program history, OIT traveled to Southern California and came home with an unblemished record, going 4-0 at the Hope International Summer Slam. The Lady Owls dominated two Cal Pac teams (Providence Christian and Westcliff) and toppled two Great Southwest Athletic Conference clubs (The Master's and Hope International) – holding all four opponents under a .155 attack percentage and combining for a 39-10 edge in total blocks. Tech finishes non-league play with a 7-1 record – the fifth time the Owls have recorded just one loss through eight matches – chasing the 2021 team that began 9-1 and the 2002 team that started 8-1.
 
THAYER HONORED BY CCC: A monster week that started on the East Coast and ended on the West Coast netted Aleksen Thayer Cascade Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors. The sophomore, who set a 5-set school record with 13 blocks Monday against Benedictine Mesa, continued her strong play at the net, adding 10 blocks in Saturday's win over Hope International – becoming the fourth player to record multiple double-digit block matches in a season. Thayer leads the CCC in total blocks (41), while ranking No. 2 in the league in blocks per set (1.41).
 
ACES AWAY: Friday's matches against Providence Christian and Westcliff saw the Owls utilizing tough serving to their advantage, combining for 31 aces in the two wins – the first time since 2021 the squad had consecutive double-digit ace matches. In the Westcliff win, OIT recorded 19 aces – their second-highest total in program history (20 aces vs. Mills in 2018). Molly Grace led the team with eight aces – tied for the third-most in a match in program history (and most since 2018), with Lucy Boyd adding five aces. As a team, the Owls are one of three CCC squads (joined by Southern Oregon and Northwest) to have more aces than serving errors.
 
GRACE CONTINUES HOT START: The lone 6-rotation player in the Owls lineup continued to post big numbers in California, as Molly Grace led the OIT attack. The senior led the team in kills in 3-of-4 matches, finishing the trip with a combined 37 kills, 42 digs, 12 aces and seven blocks – heading into the week with four double-digit kill matches and six double-digit dig matches. Grace ranks No. 6 in the CCC in kills per set (3.13), while averaging 3.17 digs per set.
 
MORE AT THE NET: It was a collective effort for the Lady Owls offensively, getting production from all three positions at the net. In the middle, Kate Hicks was efficient on the attack, hitting at a .469 clip for the weekend – including a season-high 10 kills vs. Providence Christian, while adding 17 total blocks. On the outside, Courtney Green averaged 2.4 kills and 0.9 blocks in California, while posting a .307 attack percentage, with opposite hitter Lex Boccia racking up 16 kills and five blocks in the two Saturday wins and holds a .246 attack percentage on the year.
 
FRESHMAN HAS QUALITY CALIFORNIA SWING: Setter Lucy Boyd handled all setting duties in two of the matches in Orange County and finished the weekend with solid numbers. The freshman had 28 assists and four aces vs. Providence Christian, followed by 29 assists and five aces vs. Westcliff – helping the team to a combined .266 attack percentage in the four matches.
 
BACK ROW SUCCESS: Kaley Whalen ran her string of double-digit dig matches to 29, combining for 68 digs in the four matches at the HIU Summer Slam. The junior libero ranks No. 5 in the CCC, averaging 4.43 digs per set. Fellow defensive specialist Abigail Sorensen recorded 27 digs in California, while contributing seven aces.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: Last week was a banner weekend for the CCC, as Eastern Oregon finished 4-0 in San Antonio at a tournament hosted by Our Lady of the Lake, while both Southern Oregon and OIT were 4-0 and Northwest finished 3-1, at the HIU Summer Slam. This week, LC State and Walla Walla join OIT and SOU in playing travel partner CCC counters, with College of Idaho heading to Texas and Northwest heading to Nebraska for tournaments. Both Multnomah and Bushnell will play a round-robin against Division III teams, meeting Willamette, George Fox, Pacific and Linfield. The full CCC schedule begins in earnest next weekend and will run through the second weekend in November.
 
RECORD BOOK: Five players are currently ranked in the Top-25 of the OIT career record book – with Kate Hicks No. 5 in blocks (297), Paige Tevelde No. 10 in assists (1,267), Molly Grace No. 10 in kills (781) Kaley Whalen No. 10 in digs (894) and Aleksen Thayer No. 25 in blocks (126).
 
LOOKING AHEAD:  The Lady Owls continue their 5-match homestand next weekend, hosting Eastern Oregon (Sept. 6) and College of Idaho (Sept. 7).