ASHLAND, Ore. – College of Idaho used a season-high 12 team blocks – including four in the decisive fifth set, as the Yotes stunned Southern Oregon 21-25, 25-23, 25-27, 25-23, 15-13 inside Lithia Motors Pavilion.
The Coyotes (7-9, 4-4 CCC) won their third-straight match on the road and evened their league mark, while handing Southern their sixth-straight loss.
After kills by
Danielle Neuman and
Brenna Hawkins broke a 19-19 tie in Set 4, helping C of I force the fifth set, the Yotes never trailed in the 15-point period. The visitors got a pair of blocks from Hawkins and
Kylie Crossland in a 5-1 run to open the set, and though SOU (7-6, 2-6) pulled even at 12-12, a Neuman kill regained the lead for C of I, with two Raiders errors ending the contest.
Southern grinded out a Set 1 win, before
Jade Warren rallied the Yotes in Set 2, posting a pair of blocks in a 5-0 run that gave C of I an 11-8 lead. Tied 21-21 in the set, an
Emily Vandenberg kill was followed by a Warren stuff block, allowing the Coyotes to even the match.
C of I nearly stole Set 3 – surviving four SOU set points – before a pair of errors allowed the Raiders to escape, setting up the wild final periods.
Vandenberg led three C of I players with double-digit kills – posting 12 kills and 10 digs. Warren had a huge night with 11 kills and eight blocks, with Neuman adding 11 kills and five blocks. Hawkins added seven kills and three blocks;
Sidney Frith had 29 assists and eight digs;
Sydnee Steel had 23 assists, with
Isabelle Combs leading the team with 18 digs.
SOU, which posted 71 kills in the loss, had five players with double-digit kills – led by 19 kills from Simone Gordon and 16 kills from Hailey Van Well.
The Yotes close out the road trip tomorrow at 5 p.m. (PDT) with a meeting at Oregon Tech.
