The Southern Oregon Raiders headed into this past weekend with the Volleyball and Soccer squads lacing it up against their respective opposition.  The volleyball team had battled hard but struggled in the Biola Invitational, whereas in soccer, the Raiders shutout one team and took another into the distance.

First, let’s focus on the volleyball team first from the Biola Invitational.

In day one, the volleyball team faced number 24 Westmont University and The Master’s College.  The Warriors of Westmont had held the Raider squad to 25 kills, seven of which Haley Kasler owned, but the Raiders had battled through several deficits throughout the day that include three four-point comebacks against the Warriors and a five-point deficit in the third set to tie it at 22 against the Mustangs of The Master’s College.

Day two featured the Raiders facing two of the top-ten teams in the NAIA; number two Concordia-Irvine and number ten Vanguard University.  The Raiders had struggled with the Lions of Concordia-Irvine as they held the Raiders to a .102 attack percentage; but came back strong against Vanguard as they won their only set in the invitational, 25-23 and had kept it interested with the next two sets in battling back through deficits.

The Raiders seem to be just a step away from being really good and really scary.  They are a battling team, any obstacle thrown they are faced with, they responded; but they just have a tough time finishing these comebacks so far in this early season.  They are currently 3-6 with one more game against William Jessup before starting Conference play on September fourth against Oregon Tech, to help themselves finish strong for the Corban’s and the Concordia’s in the conference.

Now to our next topic, the soccer team had open up regular season play on Thursday against Trinity Lutheran College.

In the game, the Raiders had scored all three of their goals in the first half while holding the Eagles to three shots-on-goal all game.

Saturday saw the Raiders lacing up the cleats against The Master’s College Mustang’s.  Both teams scored a goal a half to force overtime.  The Raiders made up for being outshot by the Mustangs, 19-16 by putting pressure on the Mustang’s with four shots-on-goal in the two overtime peroids.

2011 NAIA Honor Mention All-American Stephanie Carr scored a goal in each game, bringing her early season total to two on the season, whereas freshman Katelyn Allen has six saved goals in 63 minutes of work this weekend.

“Our finishing was quality, a good mix of subtlety and power, so that’s good.  Also we learned that our depth is going to be a strong point.” said SOU soccer coach Jon Clement  “Obviously we have to continue to evolve that facet of our team, but it’s nice to see that we have far more than 11 ‘starting’ players.  So if anyone is having a bit of an off game, there’s someone on the sideline that can invigorate the team.”

Heading into the next game against Fresno Pacific on September 1^st, their strength is to getting the ball into their possession and to use their skillfulness in the players.  Clement wants to improve what decisions they make when they get the ball and build confidence while taking it one day at a time to carry this momentum forward into the rest of the season.

Volleyball

Thursday 23rd, 2011

Game 1

SOU  18  22  12

#24 Westmont  25  25  25

Totals SOU- 25-4-8.0. Westmont:  44-9-3.0 (Assists) - WESTRICK, Caryn 12.  Westmont- ADEMA, Candice 34.(Dig leaders) - YOMTOB, Renee 10; SPIEKER, Angela 10. Westmont-(Dig leaders) - SCHROEDER, Kristin 10; ADEMA, Candice 10;
THOMPSON, Heidi 9

Game 2

SOU 19  11  23

The Master’s  25  25  25

SOU- 25-5-7.0; The Master’s- 49-4-5.0.  (Assists): SOU- Caryn Westrick 15. The Masters- Alyssa Gergins 45 (Dig leaders): SOU –Renee Yomtob 7; Brookelynn Cole 5 The Master’s- Rebecca Peluffo 13; Sam Dougherty 8

Friday August 24th

Game 1

SOU 16  12  12

#2 Concordia-Irvine (CA)  25  25  25

Stats: (Kills-aces-Blocks):  SOU- 23-1-3.  #2 Concordia-Irvine- 45-6-7.  Assist-  SOU- Concordia-Irvine  Jenee Henderson 20. Dig Leaders-  SOU- Renee Yomtom 10, Caryn Westrick, 8.  Concordia-Irvine- Kara Vincitorio 12, Fei Gao, 8.

Game 2

SOU  25  20  23  12

#10 Vanguard  22  25  25  25

SOU- 49-4-6; #10 Vanguard 58-7-9.  (Assists)SOU: Caryn Westrick 23, Angela Spieker 20. Vanguard- Carly Maxwell, 41, (Dig leaders) – SOU – Taina Kanar, 16; Renee Yomtob 15; Caryn Westrick, 8; Vanguard- Kelly Heenan 19, Carla Cantarella 12, Carly Maxwell 10.

Soccer

Thursday August 23rd

SOU   3   0   – 3

Trinity Lutheran  0  0  –  0

Saves-  SOU-  Clement, Kelsey- 1.  Allen, Katelyn 2.  Trinity Lutheran-  Wilson, K.C.- 3.  Goals:  SOU- Roteman, Kennedy; Carr, Stephanie; Hamer, Stacy.  Warning:  SOU- Dutra; Trnity Lutheran-Menchaca.  Ejections- SOU- Dutra.

Saturday August 25th

SOU                         1  1  0  0  –  2

The Master’s College  1  1  0  0  –  2

Saves- SOU- Clement, Kelsey- 0.  Allen, Katelyn 4.  The Master’s College-  Espiritu, Ilyssa, 7.  Goals- SOU- Carr, Stephanie;  Stave, Danielle.  The Master’s-  Richards, Shea (2).  Warning:  The Master’s College – Benson. SOU- McArthur.

Source:

SOU Athletics page.  http://souraiders.com/