LEWISTON, Idaho – The Warriors of LC State Volleyball faced a tough opponent in No. 21 Southern Oregon on Friday night to open Cascade Conference play. After a tight first set, the Raiders took control to finish off LC in three sets (25-23, 25-10, 25-17).
 
"We need to bounce back tomorrow because conference play doesn't stop," Head Coach Shaun Pohlman said. "We need to show some resilience and keep working. We get a chance to visit them, and we want to be a different team when we go there. We have kids that are freshmen that aren't quite comfortable in a position so we need to figure that out. Tomorrow is a new day."
 
An SOU attack error gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead to open the first set, but four straight by the Raiders made it a 4-1 deficit. LC pulled within three at 17-14 with a kill by Tori Edwards, then again at 19-16 on a block by Jada Wyms and Carli Berntson, before fighting off three set points with a kill by Josie Peters and a block by Channa Hart and Edwards. The Raiders took the set 25-23.
 
An eight-point run by SOU in the second put the Warriors behind 14-7. The Raiders ended the set with a seven-point stretch for a quick 25-10 victory.
 
The Raiders kept their foot on the gas with five points to open the third set. A kill by Cassidy Nelson brought LC back within two at 6-4, but another lengthy run gave SOU a firm 15-7 advantage. The Warriors dropped the third set by a final at 25-17.
 
Nelson led LC State with six kills in the match and Edwards had five. Jess Ruffing dished out 10 assists and Kenzie Dean had eight digs.
 
SOU's Shelby Young and Hailey Van well each tallied 11 kills, Gwen Sheldon had 21 assists and both Karina Oliveira and Kadyn Jones collected 12 digs.
 
The Warriors host Oregon Tech tomorrow in the Activity Center at 5 p.m. The match will be streamed on lcwarriors.com and carried on KLCZ radio.
 
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