Box Score



ASHLAND, Ore. -- Despite falling in the first two sets, the Southern Oregon University volleyball team rallied for a five-set victory over Eastern Oregon University Friday.

Cascade Conference Hitter of the Week Haley Kasler continued her run of strong play, posting her fifth double-digit kill total in the past six matches with 16 kills to lead the Raiders (8-6, 4-0 Cascade Collegiate Conference). Mona Goudarzian added 12 kills, while Caryn Westrick posted a double-double with 23 assists and 25 digs, both team-leading totals.

Eastern Oregon dominated the first two sets, as the Mountaineers out-hit SOU by more than .200 in the opener and by almost .400 in the second set. Southern Oregon finished the second set with only four kills and 11 attack errors for a -.250 set percentage.

The Mountaineers took over the first set with a 13-1 run that put the visitors up 17-5 following a kill by Alisha Crane. They took control of the second set even earlier, scoring the first three points and 20 of the first 25. Southern Oregon called timeout and responded with an 8-2 run, but it was too little too late as EOU closed out the set victory to take the 2-0 advantage.

The third set featured an SOU streak to match the Mountaineers', as the Raiders used a 13-4 run to turn a 5-5 tie into an 18-9 advantage following consecutive kills by Natalie Scheller, Kasler and Sam Boehnke. Eastern Oregon would not go away, though scoring seven of the next nine points to pull within four at 20-16. The Mountaineers pulled as close as two points back at 24-22, but Jordan Crossley clinched the set for SOU with a kill.

Southern Oregon scored the first three points of the fourth set before Eastern used a 15-4 run to take an eight-point lead at 15-7. This time it was the Raiders' turn to battle back, as SOU scored nine of the next 11 points to pull within one following a kill by Boehnke. Eastern Oregon called timeout and scored the next four points, but a six-point SOU streak gave the Raiders their first lead since the opening points, and the hosts scored three of the final four points to force a deciding fifth set on a kill by Nikki Keller.

The fifth set continued the streaky trend of the night, as EOU opened to a 5-1 lead before SOU scored the next five points to take its first lead of the set at 6-5. The set featured six tie scores and three lead changes as SOU pulled ahead 13-11 and 14-12 to give the Raiders a match-point opportunity. Eastern Oregon called timeout and battled off the match point with a kill by Katie Keeney and a block by Casey Loper and Keeney to tie it at 14, but the Raiders regained the advantage on a block by Kasler and Boehnke and an EOU attack error finished off the SOU comeback victory.

The Mountaineers' Stefani Sorenson tied Kasler with 16 kills, while Alisha Crane finished with 12 and Loper tallied a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs. Jessica Perron posted a match-high 32 assists and Kaitlyn Duncan added 35 digs.

Eastern (9-4, 3-2) dropped its second straight match, and fell in the third set for third straight time. EOU is a combined 22-4 in the first two sets this season, but 12-12 in the final three sets.

The Mountaineers travel to Klamath Falls Saturday for a match at Oregon Tech. Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m. with live video and stats on EOUSports.com.