COMING UP: Season Complete
 
A LOOK BACK AT 2025: Playing in arguably the toughest league in the NAIA, the Lady Owls faced a gauntlet of games throughout the season – finishing the campaign with a 12-15 overall record – narrowly missing the Cascade Conference Postseason Tournament. Tech opened the season with a 6-1 non-conference mark – winning 2-of-3 matches at a kickoff tournament in Ashland, before stopping Blue Mountain Christian in the title game of the Milligan Mountain Madness Tournament in Tennessee. The road got tough for the squad – as 16 of their final 20 matches were against teams in the NAIA poll – earning upset wins over NAIA Tournament teams Bushnell and Northwest, while taking national semifinalist Eastern Oregon to five sets. Setter Lucy Boyd earned second-team All-CCC honors after ranking second in the league with an 8.11 assist per set average, with Abigail Sorensen earning honorable mention All-CCC honors after leading the team and ranking second in the league with a 4.32 digs per set average. OIT finished the year averaging 11.37 kills per set, 15.05 digs per set, 1.84 aces per set and 2.05 blocks per set.
 
SUCCESSFUL POSTSEASON FOR CCC: The league sent a record seven teams to the NAIA National Tournament – with four teams (Eastern Oregon, Corban, College of Idaho and Bushnell) hosting and winning their opening round sites. Lewis-Clark State went on the road and claimed a victory at Taylor (Ind.), while both Northwest and Walla Walla lost 5-set matches to end their season. At the final site – both EOU and Corban reached the 8-team championship bracket – with both teams losing 5-set matches to eventual champ, Indiana Wesleyan.
 
RECORD BOOK UPDATE: Two players had outstanding single-match performances – as Savanna Sterck became the seventh player to record 25-or-more kills in a match, recording 25 against Southern Oregon, while in the same match, Lucy Boyd became the first OIT player to record 60 assists and 20 digs in a match. One player finished the season in the Top-10 of the single-season record book – as Aleksen Thayer averaged 1.16 blocks per set, ranking No. 4 all-time, with her 110 blocks on the year the No. 7 mark in program history. In the career record book, four players ended the year in the Top-10 – with Thayer setting the all-time record for blocks (339), Kaley Whalen is No. 4 in digs (1,395), Boyd is No. 9 in assists (1,559) and Sterck is No. 10 in kills (842).
 
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARDS: Six players were selected as NAIA Scholar-Athletes (3.50+ cumulative GPA, at least a sophomore in academic standing and complete a full term at OIT) – Lex Boccia, Willow Jacobson, Alison Miller, Sumerlyn Spencer, Aleksen Thayer and Kaley Whalen, with the six players joined by Abigail Sorensen and Savanna Sterck on the CCC All-Academic Team (3.20+ cumulative GPA, at least a sophomore in academic standing and complete a full term at OIT).
 
AHEAD TO 2026: Tech will have to replace over 50% of their offense next season – as seniors Lex Boccia, Willow Jacobson and Savanna Sterck combined for 588 kills in 2025 – with leading defender, Abigail Sorensen also graduating. The Owls will return both middles – as Aleksen Thayer and Alexa Gugliotta combined for nearly two blocks per set, with two-year starting setter Lucy Boyd back to direct the attack. Defensively, All-CCC libero Kaley Whalen will return after missing the season due to injury, while soon-to-be junior Alison Miller had a solid season, averaging 2.38 digs per set and leading the team with 33 aces. Shalyn Bliss will return to the court after redshirting in 2025 – a six-rotation impact hitter.