COMING UP: vs. No. 3 Eastern Oregon, Friday, 6 p.m.; vs. College of Idaho, Saturday, 4 p.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Friday's match with Eastern Oregon and Saturday's match with College of Idaho 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. The ticket counter at the OIT Athletic Center open one hour prior to the contest, with ticket prices $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for seniors/students/military or Online Here. 
 
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.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – EASTERN OREGON: Tech welcomes longtime rival Eastern Oregon to town on Friday, as the No. 3-ranked Mountaineers (8-0) look to continue momentum after a 2023 season where they advanced to the NAIA national semifinals. Eastern has three Top-25 wins already this season, including a win over No. 5-ranked Viterbo, winning 24 of their 29 sets played. EOU is potent both offensively (.259 attack percentage) and defensively (2.59 blocks per set) – paced by the quartet of Keira Vaughn (3.69 k/s, 0.38 b/s), Ashton Bales (2.36 k/s, 0.71 b/s), Kiauna Mack (2.29 k/s, 1.33 b/s) and All-CCC pick Madison Morgan (1.96 k/s, 0.54 b/s). All-CCC setter Alexis McMurtrey (5.18 a/s, 2.11 d/s) is paired with Hannah Ledgerwood (4.74 a/s, 1.70 d/s) in the Mounties 2-setter system, with veteran libero Hailey Arritola (4.32 d/s) leading the back row. It is the 55th meeting between the teams, with EOU holding a 28-26 series edge, though Tech holds a 14-11 series lead in Klamath – though OIT is searching for their first home win over the Mounties since 2017.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – COLLEGE OF IDAHO: The weekend closes out against College of Idaho, as the Yotes (4-4) have played in two big tournaments to start the year – hosting their own tournament, while traveling to Texas last weekend for the Texas-2-Step hosted by Nelson. Head coach Liz Mendiola, in her 24th season, guided the club to quality wins over Viterbo and Nelson during their preseason run, with two of their losses coming in 5-sets against Top-25 teams (Montana Western, Oklahoma Wesleyan). C of I returns three All-CCC picks from last year – Haley McUne (2.84 k/s, 3.50 d/s, 13 aces), Shelbey Nichol (1.97 k/s, 1.06 b/s) and Janae Rayborn (1.72 k/s, 2.80 d/s) – part of an attack that hits at a .175 percentage on the year. Setters Capri Salmon (4.75 a/s, 1.85 d/s) and Savannah Hutchins (4.72 a/s, 1.91 d/s) share the load in the 2-setter system, with libero Althea Sandoval (4.89 d/s) among the league leaders in digs. OIT has had the upper hand in the recent series, winning six of the last eight match-ups, but C of I holds a 47-13 all-time series lead, including a 19-6 record in the Basin.
 
TOP-25 GAMES: The date with Eastern is the second-straight Top-25 match-up for the Lady Owls, with OIT looking to snap an 12-match losing streak against ranked 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.
 
TOUGH NIGHT AGAINST THE RIVAL: The Owls had a 5-match win streak snapped on Thursday in their home opener, as No. 10-ranked Southern Oregon topped OIT in three sets. Tech was never able to crack the Raiders defense, as SOU limited the hosts to their lowest kill total of the season, while forcing the Owls into a season-high in hitting errors. Set 3 was extremely competitive, as the Lady Owls rallied from a 4-point deficit to take a lead late and posted two set points – but were unable to close out the frame.
 
BLOCK PARTY CONTINUES: An outstanding start to the season at the net continued against Southern, as the Lady Owls combined for 12 total blocks against their rivals – with the team averaging 2.82 blocks per set on the year (No. 2 in the NAIA). It was the 18th time an OIT team had recorded 12-or-more blocks in a 3-set match and the 11th time they've accomplished the feat in a Cascade Conference match. It was the fourth time this season Tech has recorded double-digit blocks as a team, equaling the total from the entire 2023 season – and surpassing the total from the entire 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons. A trio of players had big matches – Aleksen Thayer recording a stuff block and five block assists, with both Willow Jacobson and Tiana Barrett each finishing with six block assists.
 
GETTING SERVES IN: Despite the loss to SOU, Thursday's match featured a rare feat – as Tech completed the match without a service error. It had been nearly five years since the Owls did not record a serving error in a match, dating back to a Nov. 1, 2019 contest at Eastern Oregon. For the season, OIT has posted 67 aces against just 37 serving errors, while Tech opponents have mustered 43 aces, but recorded 70 serving errors.
 
RECORD RUN FOR WHALEN: Libero Kaley Whalen recorded a match-high 17 digs in Thursday's loss to Southern Oregon, the 30th-straight match the junior has posted at least 10 digs. Over the last 23 seasons, only one other OIT player had logged 30 matches in a row with double-digits digs – as Marie Baumann equaled the feat during the 2012 season. Whalen surpassed the 900-dig mark for her career against SOU – needing 89 digs to become the tenth player in OIT history with 1,000-or-more digs.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: League play saw a major stunner – as Walla Walla swept Lewis-Clark State in College Place for their first-ever victory over the Warriors. In non-league action, Bushnell and Multnomah each competed in the Oregon Trail Classic against Division III opponents with results on both ends of the spectrum – as Bushnell swept the four Northwest Conference foes, while Multnomah dropped all four matches. Both Northwest and College of Idaho traveled outside the area – Northwest going 2-2 in Nebraska, including a win over Grand View, while C of I finished 3-1 in Texas, with their lone loss to a Top-25 foe (Oklahoma Wesleyan). The next 10 weekends will feature CCC match-ups – with the opening weekend seeing Eastern Oregon and C of I headed to OIT and Southern Oregon, LC State and Walla Walla traveling to Northwest and Evergreen State, while Corban and Bushnell off to Portland to face Multnomah and a Warner Pacific team who will making their season debut.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: As a team, OIT leads the CCC (and ranks No. 2 in the NAIA) in blocks per set (2.82), is No. 3 in both aces per set (2.03) and hitting percentage (.217), No. 5 in opponent hitting percentage (.138), No. 7 in assists per set (10.94) and kills per set (11.58), ranking No. 8 in digs per set (15.76). Individually, Aleksen Thayer is No. 2 in blocks per set (1.47), Kate Hicks is No. 4 in hitting percentage (.362) and No. 6 in blocks per set (1.17), Lucy Boyd is No. 5 in assists per set (5.27), Kaley Whalen is No. 5 in digs per set (4.55), with Molly Grace No. 7 in both kills per set (3.06) and aces per set (0.55).
 
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 (1,285), Molly Grace No. 10 in kills (788), Kaley Whalen No. 10 in digs (911) and Aleksen Thayer No. 24 in blocks (132).
 
LOOKING AHEAD:  The Lady Owls close out their 5-match homestand next weekend, hosting Bushnell (Sept. 13 | 6 p.m.) and Corban (Sept. 14 | 4 p.m.)