CALDWELL, Idaho – The fifth-seeded LC State Volleyball team put together a thrilling performance on Thursday, but fell to fourth-seeded No. 21 Southern Oregon 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 25-17, 10-25, 18-16) in the quarterfinal round of the 2026 Cascade Conference Volleyball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank. The Warriors had a strong opening set and dominant fourth frame, but the Raiders outlasted LC State in an extended fifth set.
Mikale Roy and
Hadyn Smith each tallied 13 kills, and the front row put up 10 blocks.
LC State will await the announcement of the national tournament field to see if it earned an at-large bid to an NAIA Volleyball Opening Round. The national office will release the pairings on Monday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
LC State took an early lead in the first set with kills by
Ashlyn Watt and Smith. The two teams traded points with the lead changing hands until a block by
Addison Wilson and
Taylor Boyce put the Warriors in front for the remainder of the set at 14-13. Kills by Boyce and
Karissa Lindner and an ace by
Makenzie Stout grew the margin to 20-16, and tallies from Smith,
Kendall Focht, Boyce, Roy and Wilson ended the frame 25-19.
SOU responded with wins in the next two sets. The Warriors jumped in front to start the frame with a block by Lindner and Smith and an ace by Stout, and kills by Smith and Wilson made it a 6-1 advantage. SOU rallied with a 9-1 run to pull ahead 14-10, but points from Roy, Lindner, Smith and Stout evened things up 16-16. Multiple Raider runs allowed SOU to edge LC 25-21.
Southern Oregon used its momentum to build an 8-2 lead in the third set and held a steady margin throughout to take the frame 25-17.
LC State turned the tables in set four with a massive 25-10 win. Smith tallied the first kill of the set before another swing by the freshman sparked a four-point run with an ace by Focht and kill from
Jordynn Albright for a 6-2 edge. The Warriors went on an eight-point scoring run with contributions from Roy, Albright and Lindner as blocks and kills by the three had LC State up 16-5. A five-point burst grew the advantage to 21-6 and the Warriors closed the set with an ace by Watt and kills from Lindner, Boyce and Smith.
The fifth set was a battle that needed extra points to decide. LC State used kills by Smith and Lindner and aces by Stout and Watt for a 5-2 edge early, and swings by Boyce and Albright made it 9-5. SOU chipped away at the lead to take a 14-13 advantage and the two teams traded points until the Raiders strung together back-to-back kills to end the set 18-16.
STAT RECAP
Roy and Smith led LC State with 13 kills each, and Smith did so with a .522 attack percentage. Boyce added 10 kills.
Teagan Scott dished out 29 assists and Focht totaled 18, while Stout led the Warriors at the service line with four aces.
The Warriors put up 10 blocks as a team and Lindner assisted on five of them. Wilson and Roy totaled four blocks each. Stout led the back row with 12 digs while
Ella Stosich and
Kadence Moore each collected nine.
LC State hit .234 as a team and held SOU to .198. The Warriors had the edge on blocks (10-5) and aces (9-4), but the Raiders tallied 10 more kills.
UP NEXT
The NAIA will announce the tournament field for the 2026 NAIA Volleyball National Championship on Monday at 2 p.m. PT on the
NAIA YouTube page.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
