Women’s Basketball: Robbins breaks SOU record for career blocked shots in rout
LA GRANDE — If the first-ever three-way tie for the regular-season volleyball title left things feeling unsettled, Southern Oregon provided some resounding closure for everyone in the Cascade Conference Championships.
After sweeping one co-champion in the tournament semifinals, the No. 7-ranked Raiders swept another, No. 6 Eastern Oregon, in Saturday’s title match by scores of 25-23, 26-24 and 25-16 at Quinn Coliseum. Senior right-side hitter Megan Perry validated her CCC Player of the Year designation with 15 kills on 29 attacks as SOU (28-3) stole the first two sets and breezed through the third, defeating the Mountaineers (28-4) for the third time this season.
“We were really, really gritty,” SOU coach Josh Rohlfing said. “Every time they gave a punch, we hung in and punched back and showed a ton of resolve in a tough place to play. That’s what we’ve done over the last half of the season. This is a resilient group.”
The tournament championship is SOU’s first since taking down EOU in both 2018 and ’19 in Ashland. The Raiders had never previously celebrated one on the road, but did it this time against a Mountaineers team that has two losses — both to SOU in a span of five weeks — in its last 33 home matches.
EOU, the tourney’s No. 1 seed, had a partisan crowd rocking with a 23-22 lead in the first set. Perry’s seventh kill of the frame tied it, and back-to-back Mountaineers attacking errors gave it to the Raiders.
EOU served for set point in the second, up 24-23 on a Kiauna Mack block, before Perry struck again with back-to-back kills and Keira Vaugh’s attack sailed wide as the Raiders went up 2-0.
A subdued crowd watched them dominate the third, taking five straight points to go up 8-4 and never looking back. Mylena Testoni registered five of her eight kills and one of her three service aces in the frame. The senior outside hitter added 11 digs.
The No. 3-seeded Raiders, who hit .252 compared to EOU’s .154 clip, also got strong production in the middle from Linda Conceicao, who had seven kills and five blocks, and Sadie Byrd, who totaled six and two. Hannah Stadstad contributed seven kills as Vitoria Mattos accrued a match-high 26 assists.
Vaughn led the Mountaineers with 10 kills as they attempted to win their third consecutive tournament title. Mack pitched in six kills and was in on seven of the team’s 10 blocks.
But Perry, as she did all weekend, stole the show. The 6-foot-2 lefty combined for 39 kills over 10 sets in three tournament matches, attacking at a .333 average.
She and the Raiders will enter the NAIA National Tournament on a seven-match winning streak, having dropped just one of their last 22 sets. The Mountaineers will also be in automatically when the field is announced at 10 a.m. Monday.
Both teams, along with CCC co-champion Corban, are expected to get host nods for next Saturday’s NAIA Opening Round due to their top-10 rankings.
Men’s Basketball
SOU 82, LINFIELD 68: At Klamath Falls, a 21-point second-half swing went Southern Oregon’s way for a win in the Lithia Classic on Saturday afternoon at Danny Miles Court.
Senior guard Mason Whittaker scored eight of his team-high 12 points after the break as the Raiders (5-1) flipped a 40-37 deficit with a 10-0 run to start the half. Sophomore forward Bryce Dyer finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, logging his second double-double of the season with eight and six over the final 20 minutes.
SOU shot 48% from the field, boosting that number with an 18-of-32 effort in the second half. Liam Clark and Joe Juhala had nine points apiece; Jacob Axmaker and Elijah Jackson both scored eight.
The Raiders led by double figures for the final 14 minutes. Their lead was as large as 18 with 3:31 left to play.
The meeting was the first between them and Linfield (1-4) since 2005. Josh Ryan’s 12 points led the Wildcats, though he got seven of those at the free-throw line.
Women’s Basketball
SOU 76, UC MERCED 52: At Klamath Falls, Clara Robbins broke Southern Oregon’s career record for blocked shots as the No. 4-ranked Raiders rolled past UC Merced in the Lithia Classic on Saturday at Danny Miles Court.
Senior forward Morgan Baird turned in another team-high of 18 points and grabbed five rebounds for SOU (4-0), which opened the game on an 18-2 run.
Robbins, another senior forward from Hillsboro, registered her 138th and 139th blocks as a Raider in the first half to replace a 29-year-old record previously held by Nicole Wirfs. She headed a defense that held the Bobcats (2-2) to 30% shooting.
Emma Schmerbach aided the offense with her third consecutive double-digit performance, scoring 13 points on 6-of-12 accuracy with four rebounds. Keeley Wright shot 5-of-9 to score a career-high 11 points.
Bridgette McIntyre chipped in eight, and Meghan McIntyre accounted for five of SOU’s nine steals. Eliza DiGiulio scored seven off the bench.
By halftime, the Raiders were up 48-20.
Baird went 18-of-24 from the field on the weekend. She’s shooting 63% through four games with an average of 14.0 points.
Men’s Wrestling
SOU SWEEPS: At Sacramento, back-to-back pins from Vonn Fenn and Simon Graeber jump-started Southern Oregon, and another from Alex Hernandez later sealed a dual victory over San Francisco State, 30-14, on Saturday at Sacramento City College.
The No. 10-ranked Raiders, who upped their record to 6-0, also shut out Sacramento C.C. in a 46-0 exhibition earlier in the day. They rang up six technical falls and a fall in the matchup.
Against the Gators (0-2), the No. 12-ranked Fenn pinned Tanner Bartonico in the 125-pound opener and the No. 10-ranked Graeber did the same to Johnny Lopez at 133. A major decision from No. 2 Evan Potter (141) gave the Raiders a 16-0 lead before SFSU scored its first points.
The score was 20-7 when Hernandez, ranked No. 4 at 174, won by fall against Zion Bowling. No. 4 Aaron Gandara (157) and Asher Ruchti (197) contributed major decisions.
The Gators took just four matches, two of them by sudden victory.
SOU has opened with six consecutive dual wins for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
For more on Southern Oregon University Raider athletics, go to souraiders.com.
