Women’s Volleyball
The Wolves wrapped up the non-conference schedule with a fantastic performance in Lewiston, Idaho where Walla Walla went a perfect 2-0 in the Hells Canyon Grand Invitational. WWU won the final six sets after dropping the opening set to Arizona Christian on Friday. After that first set loss, the Wolves won the next three and swept No. 11 Montana Western to make program history. It was the first time that the pack took down a ranked opponent.
Things do not get any easier for the Wolves as they open Cascade Conference action at home this weekend. Walla Walla will host (RV) Oregon Tech at 2 p.m. on Friday to open conference action and then it will be the Raiders of No. 6 Southern Oregon who will come to Windemuth Court at 9 p.m. on Saturday.
(RV) Oregon Tech Owls - 6-1
The Owls have been busy during the non-conference schedule as they participated in two tournaments. After a season opener loss to Arizona Christian in five sets, Oregon Tech has won six straight and won 17 straight sets before Blue Mountain forced the Owls to five sets in the finale of Milligan Mountain Madness in Milligan, Tenn. over the weekend.
Oregon Tech was one of seven teams in the conference to receive votes in the preseason poll and are off to a good start after a 19-14 record in 2024 that had OIT finish seventh in the CCC standings.
Looking at the stats through seven matches and it is easy to tell why the Owls are off to a hot start. OIT brings a deep attack with four players averaging more than two kills per set. Willow Jacobson leads the way with 63 kills on the season with Lex Boccia just two kills behind her teammate. Lucy Boyd has already tallied 251 assists, 10.04 a set, and leads the CCC early on in the season. OIT is second in the conference with a .254 attack percentage and lead the conference with 2.48 services aces a set.
Walla Walla is looking for the first program victory against Oregon Tech as the Wolves are 0-20 all-time against the Owls. Last season, OIT was able to sweep Walla Walla in both contests.
No. 6 Southern Oregon Raiders - 3-4
The Raiders have stacked their non-conference schedule with some of the toughest teams in the NAIA. Southern Oregon opened the season hosting the Raider Invitational. SOU was able to earn straight set victories against Simpson (Calif.) and Park Gilbert (Ariz.) before getting upset by Arizona Christian in four sets.
Southern Oregon went down to Fullerton, Calif. and faced three ranked opponents at the Hope International Summer Slam. The Raiders lost to No. 14 Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio), No. 2 Bellevue (Neb.) and No. 23 The Master’s (Calif.) before ending the weekend with a victory over host Hope International.
Andressa Ribeiro Soares has 75 kills and 3.13 kills per set to lead the Raiders. Annie Hite has 118 assists and 4.72 assists per set to top the team, Mia Jaeger has contributed 96 assists on the year. SOU has eight players with double-digit digs early on in the season and Tessa Zimmermann has four solo blocks.
The Raiders are fourth in the conference with 2.16 service aces per set. However, the No. 6 team in the country is bottom of the conference with just 9.40 digs per set.
Walla Walla has played Southern Oregon 18 times and is still looking for its first victory. WWU earned a third set victory on the road last season, but the Raiders closed it out in four. Sahara Browning had 25 kills in the match. It was the only time the Wolves have earned a set win against SOU.
Milestone Watch
- Natalia Jimenez - Two total blocks away from 50 all-time (Would be 14 WWU player to reach that milestone)
- Idalis Bedore - 11 digs away from passing Gabrielle Browning for 5th all-time in program history
