KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Career nights from
Savanna Sterck and
Lucy Boyd were not enough for Oregon Tech, as Southern Oregon used late rallies in Set 3 and Set 5 to earn a 25-20, 22-25, 28-26, 21-25, 15-10 Cascade Conference victory at Danny Miles Court.
The Raiders (9-11, 6-7 CCC) won the statistically even match, riding a 20-kill, 27-dig performance from transfer Andressa Ribeiro Soares to claim a series sweep of their rivals.
Sterck recorded a career-high 25 kills, becoming the seventh Lady Owls (9-11, 3-10) player to record 25-or-kills in a match, while Boyd had a monster 20-20 effort with 60 assists and 20 digs – ending Tech's 10-year drought without a player posting 60 assists in a contest.
SOU finished the night with a 69-67 edge in kills, with both teams ending with nine blocks.
The visitors grabbed Set 1, as consecutive aces from freshman Maelle Garon broke a 13-13 tie, with the 6-1 run giving the Rogue Valley club a lead for good. OIT turned the tables in Set 2, ending the frame on their own 6-1 run, getting a kill from Sterck to break a 22-22 tie and
Willow Jacobson recorded back-to-back kills to end the set.
Set 3 was decisive – as OIT seemingly had an insurmountable 24-20 lead. Maya Watters earned a side-out with a kill and on the strength of Annie Hite's serve, the Raiders rattled off four additional points – with kills from Tessa Zimmerman and Ribeiro Soares completing the comeback win.
OIT forced a final set with a run in Set 4, as Sterck recorded six kills in the period – including two in a 5-0 run that built a 19-16 lead that wasn't threatened.
In Set 5, the teams played to a 9-9 tie, before Friley Curtiss hit a cross-court winner, with the Raiders capitalizing on three OIT hitting errors in a 6-1 run to end the match.
Jacobson finished with 16 kills and five blocks,
Aleksen Thayer had nine kills and six blocks, with
Alexa Gugliotta recording eight kills and three blocks in the loss.
Watters had 15 kills and Curtiss added 14 kills and seven blocks for SOU.
Both teams host Warner Pacific this weekend, with Tech meeting the Knights on Friday at 6 p.m.
