COMING UP: at No. 22 Southern Oregon, Tuesday, 6 p.m.; at Warner Pacific, Saturday, 4 p.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Both matches this week will feature Live Stats through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Portal and a live stream on the Cascade Sports Network. Links to both stats and video can be accessed at OregonTechOwls.com.  
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ABOUT THE OPPONENT – SOUTHERN OREGON (15-7, 7-5) | SOU LEADS SERIES, 59-8 | LAST MEETING IN 2026 (SOU 3, OIT 0): Just three days removed from a long weekend trip, the Lady Owls head over the hill on Tuesday for a rivalry match at Southern Oregon. The No. 22-ranked Raiders have a 2-game lead over Tech for sixth-place in the league standings, as SOU equaled the Owls fortunes on the road swing – defeating Walla Walla and losing to LC State. The key to the Raiders success is blocking (1.9 b/s) and serving (2.2 aces/set), with Friley Curtiss (2.54 k/s, 0.62 b/s), Tessa Zimmerman (1.99 k/s, 1.08 b/s) and Duda Leite (1.69 k/s, 0.61 b/s) leading the way, with Maya Watters (2.85 k/s) the top attacker. Setter Annie Hite (5.90 a/s, 1.72 d/s) directs the offense, while libero Maelle Garon (3.64 d/s, 40 aces) ranks second in the league in aces. OIT looks to snap an 8-match losing streak to SOU.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – WARNER PACIFIC (0-13, 0-12) | OIT LEADS SERIES, 45-9 | LAST MEETING IN 2026 (OIT 3, WPU 0): The final match of a two-week long road swing ends in Portland against winless Warner Pacific. The Knights have been swept in 11-straight matches, as the lone team in the CCC without a travel partner is averaging just 7.4 kills per set, while their opponents are averaging 3.3 aces per set. No WPU player averages more than two kills per set, as Tayah-Anne Toa (1.90 k/s, 1.19 d/s) is the top attacker and Naomi Johnson (1.40 k/s, 0.90 b/s) the top net defender. Amar Rapoza (3.33 a/s, 2.10 d/s) handles the setting duties, with Maya Moreno (2.43 d/s) the libero. OIT will take a 15-match win streak against the Knights into Saturday's contest.  
 
ARC RATING: The first NAIA West ARC rating was released last Thursday, with the Lady Owls sitting at No. 14 – one of seven CCC teams in the 14-team ballot. Six of the Top-10 teams hail from the CCC (No. 1 Eastern Oregon, No. 2 College of Idaho, No. 4 Corban, No. 5 LC State, No. 7 Southern Oregon, No. 9 Bushnell), with the league having five teams in the Top-25 poll – EOU (No. 1), Corban (No. 5), C of I (No. 8), LCSC (No. 20), SOU (No. 22).
 
HIGHS AND LOWS OF LONG TRIP: Tech made the long trip to LC State and Walla Walla, with the weekend seeing both ends of the emotional spectrum. Friday, the Lady Owls started extremely slowly in a 3-set loss, as LC opened the first two sets with 9-0 and 11-0 runs – with OIT losing Set 2, 25-7, their lowest scoring set since 2010. One night later, the Lady Owls rallied from a two sets to one deficit to claim a win at Walla Walla, just the second time since 2021 Tech has won a match after trailing after Set 3 (2021 vs. Evergreen, 2023 at Evergreen). The Owls offense was the difference in the rally at WWU, hitting .278 over the final two decisive sets, as OIT completed a key season sweep of the Wolves and moving two games clear of the squad for the No. 7 spot in the league standings.
 
ON THE OFFENSE: Five different OIT players recorded at least 10 kills on the road swing, led by Kaliko Schilling, who had 18 kills and 10 digs – including 11 kills in the win over Walla Walla. Alexa Gugliotta had 11 kills vs. Walla Walla and finished the weekend with 15 kills and four blocks, Steffini Goss had 13 kills and four blocks (including 11 vs. WWU), while both Aleksen Thayer and Shalyn Bliss had 11 kills.
 
WHALEN EXTENDS RECORD: Libero Kaley Whalen continued a tremendous season, combining for 40 digs in the two weekend road matches. The fifth-year player had 30 digs at Walla Walla, extending a school record with her sixth career match with 30-or-more digs (no other player has more than four). Whalen, who leads the CCC in digs per set (5.13), moved within 55 digs from OIT's all-time digs record of 1,839, established by Krystie Vea in 2011.
 
AROUND THE CCC: Eastern Oregon remained the lone unbeaten team remaining in the NAIA, sweeping two matches to improve to 23-0 on the season, while College of Idaho picked up two wins and are one of four one-loss teams remaining in the association. Corban topped Bushnell and Warner Pacific to vault into third, with LC State climbing into a share of fourth in the standings by sweeping OIT and Southern Oregon. This week, along with Tech and SOU traveling to Warner Pacific, Walla Walla and LC State are off to Northwest and Evergreen, with Corban and Bushnell making the tough trip to C of I and EOU.
 
STANDINGS: Eastern Oregon 12-0, 23-0; College of Idaho 11-1, 18-1; Corban 9-3, 16-5; Lewis-Clark State 8-4, 14-4; Bushnell 8-4, 13-6; Southern Oregon 7-5, 15-7; Oregon Tech 5-7, 11-9; Walla Walla 3-9, 3-11; Northwest 2-10, 6-15; Evergreen State 1-11, 2-14; Warner Pacific 0-12, 0-13.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: Kills/Set – Sahara Browning (WWU) 4.06, Keira Vaughn (EOU) 3.84, Emma Bischoff (CRB) 3.56, Taylor Boyce (LC) 3.45, Amyah Semau (BU) 3.02. Assists/Set – Shayne McWilliams (CI) 9.01, Taryn Ramsay (OIT) 8.99, Katelyn Bogetti (NU) 7.66, Kate Stidham (EOU) 6.58, Teagan Scott (LC) 5.97. Digs/Set – Kaley Whalen (OIT) 5.13, Dani Street (CRB) 4.21, Chloe Farr (BU) 3.72, Ella Stosich (LC) 3.67, Maelle Garon (SOU) 3.65. Blocks/Set – Aleksen Thayer (OIT) 1.42, Soleil Sands (BU) 1.28, Julie Whitley (EOU) 1.26, Alexa Wheeler (CI) 1.11, Gracee Robertson (CRB) 1.10.
 
RECORD BOOK: Four current Lady Owls rank among the Top-25 in the OIT career record book. Aleksen Thayer leads the way, holding the all-time blocks (446) mark, with Kaley Whalen No. 2 in digs (1,784), No. 11 in aces (91) and No. 18 in assists (260), while Lucy Boyd is No. 9 in assists (1,595) and No. 21 in aces (72) and Taryn Ramsay is No. 16 in assists (789). Three players sit just outside the Top- 25 as Sumerlyn Spencer is set to crack the list in aces (67), Alison Miller in aces (64) and Alexa Gugliotta in blocks (135). Thayer also sits at No. 9 on the single-season blocks list with 108 on the year.
 
NEXT WEEK: The Lady Owls finally return home next weekend, welcoming in the top two teams in the CCC, hosting No. 1-ranked Eastern Oregon (Oct. 23) and No. 8-ranked College of Idaho (Oct. 24).