ASHLAND, Ore. – Breakout days from Willow Jacobson and Lex Boccia paced the Oregon Tech offense, helping the Lady Owls to a season opening split of Great Southwest Athletic Conference teams at the Raider Volleyball Invitational inside Lithia Motors Pavilion.
 
Jacobson had a career-high 21 kills in a five-set loss to Arizona Christian in the opening game of the tournament, while Boccia paced the Owls (1-1) with a career-high 15 kills in a 3-set sweep of Park University Gilbert.
 
MATCH 1 – Arizona Christian 3, Oregon Tech 2 (25-23, 14-25, 15-25, 25-23, 15-9): The Firestorm (1-1) scored the final two points of Set 4 and bolted to a 9-3 lead in Set 5 to steal a victory away from the Owls.
 
After OIT dominated the middle sets, ACU forced a final set by breaking a 23-23 tie in Set 4 with a Zuri Reeser kill and a Tech attack error. In Set 5, Reeser blasted three kills in the opening run to secure the match win.
 
ACU never trailed in Set 1, withstanding a late run by the Owls, as four kills from Jacobson and three more from Boccia squared the set at 23-23 – but a Becca Thomson kill earned the Firestorm a side out and a OIT hitting error ended the period.
 
Tech used big runs in Set 2 and Set 3 – as Jacobson and Alexa Gugliotta had three kills each in an 11-2 run that built a 20-11 lead in the second frame. The Owls followed it by scoring eight of the first nine points of the next set – finishing Set 3 with five aces – to take the overall lead in the match, but were unable to close out the win.
 
Savanna Sterck had 12 kills, Boccia had 10, with Aleksen Thayer posting six blocks.  Lucy Boyd recorded 52 assists and 16 digs, Abigail Sorensen logged a career-high 33 kills, with Alison Miller adding 16 digs.
 
Reeser led all players with 22 kills and Ryan Couglin posting 11 kills and 22 digs.
 
MATCH 2 – Oregon Tech 3, Park University Gilbert 0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-14): The Lady Owls used a 51-27 edge in kills to claim the victory over the Buccaneers (0-2).
 
Boccia used a personal four-point rally in Set 1, with Sterck adding a rousing kill in an 11-3 run that erased a Park 12-10 lead. Tech finished the set win with 21 total kills.
 
The Lady Owls had to dig deep in Set 2, trailing 20-14 late in the frame. Tech cranked up the defense, forcing four hitting errors, adding aces from Emma Kness and Sumerlyn Spencer in a 10-3 push to take the lead. Following consecutive side outs, Shalyn Bliss ended the set with a kill.
 
Tech continued the big runs in Set 3, as Bliss recorded three kills in a 12-3 run to take a 20-12 lead – helping the Owls sweep the match.
Jacobson had 10 kills and nine digs, Bliss had seven kills, with Thayer leading the team with three blocks. Boyd had 44 assists, with Sorensen and Miller each recording 10 digs.
 
OIT closes out tournament play tomorrow at 3 p.m. vs. Simpson.