COMING UP: at Walla Walla, Friday, 2 p.m.; at Lewis-Clark State, Saturday, 4 p.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Both weekend matches will be streamed online – Friday at Walla Walla via YouTube, with Saturday's match at LC State through SIDEARM (PPV). Live Stats from all Cascade Conference matches will be available through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – WALLA WALLA: Conference play opens up on Friday afternoon, as the Lady Owls travel to upstart Walla Walla, a squad coming off their first-ever postseason appearance. The Wolves (2-1) have built an impressive roster built around All-CCC outside Sahara Browning (5.64 k/s, 2.91 d/s), last season's league leader in kills. Seven foreign players (from Canada, Argentina, Mexico and Cuba) have bolstered the attack that is averaging 15.18 kills per set and hitting at a .234 percentage – including setters Yamaris Garcia (2.86 k/s, 7.14 a/s, 3.71 d/s, 1.00 b/s) and Deshy Sandoval (5.27 a/s, 1.82 d/s), along with outside hitter Paula Flores (3.14 k/s, 3.14 d/s). WWU, who posted wins over Arizona Christian and Montana Western, is searching for their first-ever win vs. Tech, as OIT is 22-0 all-time against the Washington school.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – LEWIS-CLARK STATE: Saturday afternoon, Tech makes the drive to Lewiston, Idaho, site of their 2024 playoff win against Lewis-Clark State. The 2025 Warriors (3-0) have opened the new year with wins over MSU-Northern, Montana Western and Arizona Christian – behind a defense posting 2.20 blocks per set and an attack hitting at a .199 clip. The offense revolves around 2-time All-CCC hitter Julianna Forgach-Aguilar (6.2 k/s, 1.7 d/s, 0.6 b/s), one of the most dynamic players in the league, with the tandem of Taylor Boyce (3.2 k/s) and Alba Carpena (2.0 k/s, 0.8 b/s) providing setter Teagan Scott (8.67 a/s, 1.56 d/s) options. Ella Stosich (4.70 d/s) handles libero duties for LC. OIT won 2-of-3 meetings last season and holds an 11-9 all-time series edge, including a 7-5 margin since the Warriors joined the CCC.
 
CONFERENCE SEASON TO BEGIN: The 20-match Cascade Conference schedule opens this week – with the circuit proving from top-to-bottom it is the top NAIA volleyball conference in the association. Eastern Oregon is a perfect 8-0 – with wins over Northwestern and Concordia – and likely will climb to No. 1 in the national poll, while Corban, OIT and College of Idaho are 6-1 – with Corban and C of I recording multiple wins over Top-20 foes. Northwest is 6-0 – including a win over Dordt, while Southern Oregon battling through preseason injuries. This week, SOU and OIT head to Walla Walla and LC State, Northwest and Evergreen State are off to EOU and C of I, while Corban and Bushnell meet each other before hosting Warner Pacific – who is a singleton in the schedule after Multnomah dropped athletics.
 
LADY OWLS WIN MOUNTAIN MADNESS: A cross-country trip to Tennessee did not faze the Lady Owls, as OIT finished the 6-team event as the only squad to end the event with a 4-0 record. Offense was the key for Tech, as the club recorded three 3-set sweeps and a quality 5-set win over a Blue Mountain Christian team that advanced to the past two NAIA Tournaments – hitting at a .250 clip or better in each win, while combining for 38 aces. The Owls logged 72 kills in the win over BMCU, the 14th time in program history OIT has posted 72-or-more kills in a match.
 
BOYD NAMED MVP: Headlining the success for OIT in the Volunteer State was setter Lucy Boyd, who was named Milligan Mountain Madness tournament MVP. The sophomore orchestrated the attack, averaging 9.28 assists per set in the four wins, while adding 22 digs and five blocks. Boyd added 19 kills on 33 swings with just one attack error, hitting at a .545 percentage – while her 130 assists in the tournament pushed her career total over 1,000 assists – becoming the 12th OIT player to reach that milestone.
 
STERCK HAS BIG TRIP TO TENNESSEE: The benefit of the big tournament from Lucy Boyd was Savanna Streck, who joined Boyd on the All-Tournament team. The senior outside hitter recorded nine kills in 3-set wins over Milligan and Faulkner, before tying a career-high with a 20-kill explosion in the win over Blue Mountain Christian. Sterck led OIT with 44 kills in the tournament, hitting at a .262 percentage.
 
FRESHMAN EARNS ALL-TOURNEY NOD: A great start to the career of Alexa Gugliotta continued, earning All-Tournament team honors. The blocker had a consistent trip to Tennessee, opening with five kills and five blocks vs. Milligan and finishing with a season-best 13 kills and three blocks vs. Blue Mountain. Gugliotta was efficient, recording 26 kills on 48 swings with just four errors, entering the week as the CCC's leader in attack percentage (.389).
 
PASSING AND SERVING: Tech got outstanding play from their defensive and serving specialists – as all five players in the rotation provided key production. Libero Abigail Sorensen led the Owls with 58 digs, including 22 digs vs. Blue Mountain, adding five aces – with three against Faulkner. Sumerlyn Spencer recorded a career-high 20 digs vs. Blue Mountain and led Tech with eight aces on the trip, including four vs. Union Commonwealth. Alison Miller logged 34 digs and six aces (three aces vs. UCU), Emma Kness had 13 digs and eight aces (three vs. Milligan), while Brooklynn Thesenvitz had six aces (four vs. UCU).
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: As a team, OIT leads the CCC in aces per set (2.48), ranking No. 6 in kills per set (12.92), assists per set (11.88) and digs per set (15.08), ranking No. 8 in blocks per set (1.68). Individually, Lucy Boyd leads the CCC in assists per set (9.96), as does Alexa Gugliotta in hitting percentage (.389). Abigail Sorensen ranks No. 3 in digs per set (4.60), with Sumerlyn Spencer No. 6 in aces per set (0.56).
 
PRESEASON POLL: The Lady Owls earned 17 voter points from the 19 national raters in the 2025 NAIA Volleyball preseason poll – one of seven CCC teams in the rating. It marks the second time in program history that Tech finds themselves in the preseason poll – as the 2022 club opened the year ranked No. 19. Corban opens at No. 3, Eastern Oregon at No. 5, Southern Oregon at No. 6, College of Idaho at No. 18, with OIT, Bushnell and LC State all receiving votes. The next Top-25 poll will be released on Wednesday.
 
RECORD BOOK: Seven players on the 2025 roster rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book – as Kaley Whalen is No. 4 in digs (1,395), Aleksen Thayer is No. 8 in blocks (251), Lucy Boyd is No. 12 in assists (1,040), Savanna Sterck is No. 14 in kills (652), Abigail Sorensen is No. 18 in digs (725) and No. 20 in aces (71), with Willow Jacobson is No. 20 in blocks (154).
 
PROMOTION SCHEDULE: The Lady Owls have set a promotional schedule for their upcoming home dates – with Sept. 12-13 Local Business Weekend, Sept. 26 Mental Health Awareness Night and Sept. 27 Military Appreciation Night.
 
NEXT WEEK: OIT makes their home debut after nine road matches, hosting College of Idaho on Friday, Sept. 12, hosting Eastern Oregon on Saturday, Sept. 13.