ASHLAND, Ore. – Riding 18 kills from
Taylor Alexander, the College of Idaho started the second half of the Cascade Conference season with a huge four-set victory at No. 10-ranked Southern Oregon at Lithia Motors Arena.
The No. 16 Lady Yotes (13-6, 8-3 CCC) avenged a five-set defeat to SOU in Caldwell on Sept. 1 with a 20-25, 25-22, 26-24, 27-25 win – the first home loss for the Raiders this season.
Alexander added four blocks in the victory, with
Ashley Pagan recording 15 kills, 12 digs and three key blocks.
SOU (17-2, 10-2) got a pair of Elliott Cook blocks in Set 1 in a 9-2 run to erase a 10-8 C of I lead en route to claiming the early win.
The Yotes answered the call in Set 2, as Alexander hammered down four kills in an 11-2 push to help the visitors even the match. Southern looked to have Set 3 in control, holding late leads of 23-19 and 24-22. Pagan fought off a set point with a kill, followed by consecutive stuff blocks on Raider middle blocker Makayla Hoyt to give C of I set point – with the junior blasting a winner to stun the partisan crowd.
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Jackie van Vliet kill in Set 4 gave the Yotes match point at 24-21 – only to see SOU fight off five-straight set points – evening the frame at 25-25. Pagan answered with a key kill for a side-out and Alexander ended the match with a cross-court winner.
C of I hit at solid .267 clip for the night, with van Vliet recording 12 kills and seven blocks – needing just five blocks to reach the 500-block mark for her career.
Marija Djonovic had 34 assists;
Margie Beeler had 15 assists, nine digs and three aces; with
Drew Dobney leading the Yotes with 18 digs.
Both Cook and Taylor Ristvedt had 17 kills to lead the Raiders – who finished the night with 27 hitting erorrs.
The Yotes close out the road swing tomorrow with a 5 p.m. (PT) match at Oregon Tech.
