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--> --> Oct. 5: Raiders power past Geoducks By Chris Miller Ashland Daily Tidings The Southern Oregon University volleyball team had to fight off boredom more than the Evergreen State College Geoducks during a three-game sweep at McNeal Pavilion Friday night. The Raiders took the first game in convincing fashion, 30-13, but then fell into the doldrums for the second and third games, wining 30-24, and 30-25 before a crowd of 300, improving SOU's record to 11-3 overall and 7-1 in the Cascade Conference. Raider head coach Paul Elliott said that after the opening game, his team nearly fell asleep. "It was almost nap time," Elliott said about the third game. "That's why I called an early timeout at like 9-9 and they were shocked when I called the timeout. And they came over and I said that we need to create our own energy here because we're not going to be able to bounce off the opponent, because a lot of times you build up to this crescendo - and we're not going to bounce off it, and the crowd's asleep - you know it's up to us to change the energy on our side." In Game 1 the Raiders came out and took control early, busting an 8-3 lead on the Geoducks. Evergreen closed the gap to 11-8, but junior outside hitter Kristina Matchett slammed the door shut on the comeback with one of her game-high 15 kills. Matchett hit a thunderous shot, as the Raiders ran up the score to 20-10. Matchett finished the match with nine digs, one block, and one assist. Elliott said he made some changes after the first game, and put in a lot of reserves to get playing time against the outmatched visitors. "We played all 13 players, including both setters, and that was nice to be able to do that," Elliott said. The Raiders did not have the same intensity in Game 2, and never held more than a four-point lead until late in the game, at 28-23. Although SOU won the game by six points, Raiders' senior outside hitter Kacee Jacobsen said the team was out of sync. "We came out and beat them pretty good in the first game and kind of lost our intensity," Jacobsen said. "We thought, `Well, we are going to take care of this team pretty easily,' and we let down, and we can't do that. And it led to some hitting errors." The Raiders ended the match with 19 hitting errors. Elliott said he was not too concerned with the way his team played in the second and third games, and that they may have fallen into Evergreen's uninspired play. "It wasn't so much that we played badly, but we got sucked into the flow of the other team and not our flow," Elliott said. "It became a lot of unforced errors and a sloppy match," Elliott said about games two and three, "and that's what you're fighting against when you're playing a team that isn't ... It's hard to keep your focus and play the style of volleyball that you want, you know, (when) they're playing at this pace and we're playing at this pace, so it's a challenge. But it's a win, and for the most part we played good." At the start of Game 3, Evergreen broke out to an early 6-3 lead, its first lead of the match. The Geoducks looked uninterested in their lead, however, and surrendered it quickly, as the Raiders tied the game at 7-7 on a huge kill by Jacobsen, who finished tied for second on the team with 11 kills, to go with seven digs. Elliott said he was surprised by his opponent's lack of spark. "It was 6-3 and they should have been fired up and ready to go," Elliott said. "There was a little bit of the doldrums, but we got the job done and that's why they're 2-7." SOU takes on Cascade Saturday at 1 p.m. at McNeal Pavilion. Elliott said his team will be ready for a more lively opponent. "It will be a natural thing," he said. "We're playing a team that's 6-2 in the conference and an up-and-coming team ... but we'll be ready for them." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing