COMING UP: vs. Evergreen State, Friday, 6 p.m.; vs. Northwest, Saturday, 4 p.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION Tickets are available for purchase in the Athletic Center one-hour prior to first serve ($8.00 adults / $5.00 seniors, military, students) or online through the OIT Ticket Portal. Fans are asked to wear white shirts for Friday's match and black shirts for Saturday's match. For those unable to make it to the Basin, both matches will be streamed live on the Owls Sports Network, with Mike Safford on the call, with Live Stats available for both matches through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Link.
 
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 – EVERGREEN STATE: OIT returns home Friday night, as head coach Alexis Garrison welcomes her alma mater and former squad, Evergreen State, to the Basin. The Geoducks (3-8, 3-4) opened 2024 with an 0-8 record, but the team rattled off 3-straight wins heading into the weekend. TESC is solid at the net, averaging 2.2 blocks per set, but the offense averages just 8.7 kills a frame and hits at a .093 percentage. Sophia Scroggins (2.05 k/s, 0.71 b/s) and Lucendy Perez (1.65 k/s, 2.53 d/s) lead the attack, with Marin Collins (1.10 k/s, 1.00 b/s) and Kaiyah Brown (1.05 k/s, 1.03 b/s) instrumental in the block. The Geoducks use two setters – Maloree Calzadillas (3.70 a/s, 1.77 d/s) and Jessica Mitchell (3.10 a/s, 1.79 d/s) – with libero Molly Packer (5.28 d/s) ranking second in the CCC in digs. OIT holds a 33-11 all-time series lead, but TESC has had success recently, winning 7-of-11 matches.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – NORTHWEST: The weekend closes against Northwest University, as the Eagles (7-8, 2-5) snapped their own 6-match losing streak with home wins over Multnomah and Warner Pacific – as the team is a combined 0-4 in 5-set matches. NU is among the top serving squads in the CCC (2.0 ace per set) and limits teams to a .139 hitting percentage, while offensively, the Eagles average 10.4 kills per set. Delaney Sparks (2.29 k/s, 0.46 b/s) leads the attack, with Aubree Dees (1.82 k/s, 0.39 b/s), Reece Denney (1.58 k/s, 1.63 d/s) and Azaria Johnson (1.71 k/s, 0.73 b/s) key options. Setters Allie Flynn (3.64 a/s, 1.87 d/s) and Morgan Harter (4.45 a/s, 2.25 d/s) run the offense, with libero Ellie Van Barkum (5.70 d/s, 24 aces) the top defender. The two teams split the season series in 2023, with NU holding a 28-27 series edge, though OIT has picked up wins in six of the last seven meetings.
 
LOSING STREAK SNAPPED: A loss Friday at LC State dropped the Owls to 0-6 in Cascade Conference play, but the club rebounded on Saturday night for a 3-set win at Walla Walla – ending the 6-game skid. Each of the six losses were against teams with above .500 records, while the Owls logged their third-highest hitting percentage of the season (.289) in the win.
 
STILL PERFECT: Saturday's win at Walla Walla improved OIT to 21-0 all-time against the Wolves – just the second home loss of the year for WWU. It marks one of two opponents Tech has posted at least 20 wins against without a loss (the Owls are 20-0 all-time vs. Multnomah).
 
SINGLE DIGIT SET: The clinching set in the win at Walla Walla saw the Owls limit the Wolves to just eight points – the second time this season Tech has held an opponent to single-digit points (held Westcliff to nine points in an August win). It was the fewest points allowed by an OIT team since 2021, when the Owls held both Warner Pacific and Simpson to seven points in a set.
 
WHALEN REACHES MILESTONE: With her third dig in Friday's match at LC State, Kaley Whalen became the tenth OIT player to record 1,000 digs in a career – finishing the weekend with 1,025 digs. The junior had 21 digs in the loss - her third-straight match with 20-plus digs, her 11th-straight match with 15-or-more digs and a school record 37th-straight match with double-digit digs. Unfortunately for the libero, the streaks were snapped at Walla Walla, as Whalen finished the night with seven digs.
 
OUTSIDES HAVE GOOD TRIP: Pacing the Lady Owls attack on the road swing were outside hitters Savanna Sterck and Molly Grace, combining for 48 kills on the trip. Sterck had a match-high 15 kills with five digs at LC State, adding nine kills at Walla Walla, with Grace recording back-to-back double-doubles, posting 13 kills and 14 digs on Friday and 11 kills, 11 digs and five blocks on Saturday night. It was Sterck's fourth double-digit kill match of the year, while Grace recorded her eighth double-digit kill match and her 11th double-digit dig match.
 
IN THE MIDDLE: The Owls continue to be one of the better blocking teams in the NAIA, ranking No. 7 nationally in blocks per set (2.58) – with middle blockers Tiana Barrett and Aleksen Thayer putting up solid numbers on the recent road trip. Barrett upped her career-high in kills on back-to-back nights, recording six kills and LC State, followed by seven kills at Walla Walla, combining for four total blocks. Thayer tied a career-high with seven kills at LC, while combining for nine blocks on the road swing – with her 1.34 blocks per set ranking No. 7 in the NAIA.
 
BOYD RUNS THE SHOW: Tech went away from a 6-2 (two setter) offense to a 5-1 (one setter) offense during their trip to the Inland Northwest – relying on Lucy Boyd to handle the setting duties. The true freshman opened the weekend posting career-highs with 44 assists and 15 digs at LC State, following it up with 27 assists and five digs at Walla Walla, adding a career-best four kills.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: Three teams had perfect weeks – Evergreen State swept Northwest, Warner Pacific and Multnomah, with Southern Oregon toppling both Lewis-Clark State and Walla Walla. Eastern Oregon had the biggest wins, picking up a road win at Bushnell, followed by a come-from-behind 5-set win at Corban, rallying from a 14-10 deficit in Set 5 to earn a victory – forcing a 3-way tie with SOU and Corban atop the league standings. This week, along with the Seattle schools heading south, LC State and Walla Walla are off to Bushnell and Corban, with the Portland schools headed to College of Idaho and EOU.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS:  As a team, the Lady Owls rank No. 3 in the CCC in blocks per set (2.58) and digs per set (16.53), No. 6 in hitting percentage (.189) and aces per set (1.69), ranking No. 8 in kills per set (11.78), assists per set (11.20) and opponents hitting percentage (.162). Individually, four players rank in the CCC's Top-10 – paced by Kaley Whalen, who ranks No. 3 in digs per set (4.80), with Lucy Boyd No. 3 in assists per set (5.82). Aleksen Thayer ranks No. 4 in blocks per set (1.34), while Molly Grace is No. 7 in kills per set (3.02) and No. 9 in aces per set (0.42).
 
RECORD BOOK: Six players are currently ranked in the Top-25 of the OIT career record book – with Kate Hicks No. 4 in blocks (304) – 24 blocks away from the all-time school record, Paige Tevelde is No. 9 in assists (1,361), Molly Grace is No. 9 in kills (853), Kaley Whalen is No. 10 in digs (1,025) and No. 22 in assists (158), Lucy Boyd is No. 16 in assists (322), with Aleksen Thayer No. 19 in blocks (156). Two players are just outside the Top-25 in digs, with Grace (515) and Abigail Sorensen (466) on pace to crack the record book in October.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Lady Owls will play three matches next week – all matches away from the Basin – as OIT travels to Southern Oregon (Oct. 2 | 6 p.m.), Multnomah (Oct. 4 | 6 p.m.) and Warner Pacific (Oct. 5 | 4 p.m.).