ASHLAND, Ore. – Willow Jacobson led Oregon Tech with eight kills, reaching the 500-kill mark for her career, but it wasn't enough for the Lady Owls, as Southern Oregon claimed a highly-contested 22-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-19 win inside Lithia Motors Pavilion.
 
OIT (6-6, 0-5 CCC) lost for the fifth-straight outing and third-straight match vs. a Top-25 opponent, as Southern rode a 62-37 edge in kills to the 4-set win.
 
The Owls used a big block in Set 1 to take an early lead, combining for five of their 12 team blocks on the night. After trailing 8-2, Alexa Gugliotta had two kills and combined on a block to pull the squad even at 11-11. Later in the set, Savanna Sterck powered home two kills in a 7-1 run that built a 20-16 lead, with a Jacobson-Aleksen Thayer block ending the set.
 
The No. 19-ranked Raiders (5-7, 2-3) cruised to a Set 2 win, using a 6-0 run to take a 21-12 lead and built a 23-17 lead in Set 3. Tech answered, as Jacobson had two kills and the Owls added two blocks to knot the score at 24-24, before Andressa Ribeiro Soares recorded back-to-back kills to end the set. SOU dominated Set 4, putting the match away with a late 4-point push.
 
Both Sterck and Tiffini Goss had seven kills, Thayer added seven blocks and Taryn Ramsay posted 16 assists and eight digs for Tech.
 
Friley Curtiss led all players with 16 kills for the Raiders, with Ribeiro Soares finishing with 14 kills and 12 digs.
 
Both teams head to Portland this weekend to meet Warner Pacific, with the Owls facing the Knights on Saturday at 4 p.m.