ASHLAND, Ore. – An epic night from
Kylie Porter was not enough for the Lady Yotes, as No. 14 ranked Southern Oregon survived three match points to defeat the College of Idaho in five sets inside Riehm Arena.
The Raiders (22-3, 15-3 CCC) grabbed the inside track to the No. 2 seed in the Cascade Conference Championships with the come-from-behind 28-26, 17-25, 19-25, 25-17, 19-17 victory. The loss ended the Yotes (17-10, 15-4) season-best 7-game win streak.
Porter was nearly unstoppable, recording a career-high 28 kills with a .522 attack percentage. It was the most kills by a C of I player in the 25-point rally scoring era and the most by a Coyote since Kristyn Price recorded 30 kills in a win over Missouri Baptist 13 years ago.
SOU jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the decisive final set, only to watch Porter smash a pair of spikes in a 7-2 run that forced a Raiders timeout. After five ties, Southern earned a match point at 14-13, with Porter driving home a kill to keep C of I alive. An
Abbey Fenton-
Jackie van Vliet combo-block gave the Yotes their first match-point – but the two teams recorded five consecutive side-outs, as two kills by Laura Morse and a winner from Corynn Kopra staved off elimination by the hosts. Tied at 17-all, a C of I hitting error gave the Raiders match point, with a Morse kill ending the match.
Things started slowly for C of I, falling behind 11-6 in Set 1, only to ride nine kills from Porter in the period to battle back and take a 21-20 lead. Southern would take advantage of three Yote errors to earn a set point at 24-21, but a Porter spike started a four point C of I surge to take a 25-24 lead. SOU showed their mettle, as a Niki Small kill, followed by back-to-back Kopra counters, gave the Raiders the opening frame.
The Lady Yotes rolled in Set 2 and Set 3 – taking a 10-4 lead in the second set and a 12-3 lead in the third – grabbing the advantage in the match. SOU turned the tables in Set 4, using an 11-3 run to grab a 14-7 lead in forcing the fifth set.
Sturtz had a career-high 16 kills in the loss for the Yotes, with Fenton finishing with nine kills and van Vliet adding six kills and a match-high eight blocks.
Sierra Porter logged a season-high 54 assists, with
Kilee Lopez recording 28 digs, eclipsing the 1,000-dig mark for her career.
Kopra led SOU with 20 kills and 20 digs, one of four players with double-digit kills. Lauren McGowne had 60 assists and Ashlyn Flynn logged 20 digs in the victory.
C of I travels to Walla Walla next Saturday in the regular-season finale. The Yotes can still earn the No. 2 seed and a bye into the CCC Championships with a win and a SOU loss in either of their final two matches at Northwest Christian and at Corban.
