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--> --> Raiders split at national tourney Ashland Daily Tidings WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Southern Oregon University volleyball team's dreams of advancing to the NAIA tournament quarterfinals were squashed Thursday as the Raiders split a pair of pool play matches. After falling Wednesday to Fresno Pacific in the opener, SOU had to win the final three pool play matches to advance. The plan worked Thursday morning as they knocked off 20th-seeded Loyola, La., 30-20, 30-24, 30-23. But the excitement didn't last long as they fell to fourth-ranked College of Saint Mary, Neb. 30-15, 30-24, 30-14. SOU (22-10) will play its final tournament match today when it faces 13th-seeded Grace, Ind. The top two teams from each pool advance to an eight-team single elimination tournament. "We played hard and fought the good fight today, but we made too many mental and physical errors to break through against two championship-caliber teams (Fresno Pacific and Saint Mary)," Raider head coach Paul Elliott said. "Our players know exactly what it will take to make it into the elite group, but it just won't be this season." Sophomore Kristina Matchett and junior Kacee Jacobsen each had field days against Loyola. Matchett led all players with 19 kills, while Jacobsen added 15 kills. But that wasn't the story against Saint Mary (34-2). SOU only mustered 29 kills in the whole match. Despite the low-octane offense, SOU did jump out to an 18-15 lead in Game 2 before a Saint Mary ace and a pair of Raider errors propelled CSM on a 9-1 run to put the game away. "Saint Mary was a big, powerful team that played great defense and had great ball control," Elliott said. 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