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Matchett has been a hit for the Raiders The sophomore has flourished after moving from middle to outside hitter this season By TIM PYLE ASHLAND - Maybe she was born with it. Kristina Matchett has needed less than a year to transform from all-star middle blocker into record-breaking outside hitter for the Southern Oregon University women's volleyball team, a change rarely attempted and even less commonly accomplished. The 5-foot-10 sophomore from Klamath Falls, named Cascade Conference freshman of the year for her play at middle blocker last season, has become a virtual kill machine for the Raiders, destroying school records and slamming her way into national headlines. On Oct. 16, Matchett was honored as SOU's first non-setter NAIA national player of the week. In the preceding days, she broke the Raiders' match kill record with 33 against Albertson - including an SOU single-game record 14 kills in Game 2 of that match - and then blasted 25 more kills against Eastern Oregon. "It is an amazing adjustment," says SOU coach Paul Elliott of Matchett's switch from middle to outside. "It was a move to better the team, and Kristina had the ability to do it." Matchett's heroics have helped the Raiders (14-6 overall, 9-4 Cascade) climb to second place in the conference as they begin an instrumental two-match road trip tonight at Western Baptist. With three regular-season matches remaining, SOU needs to close strong to hold off Western Baptist, Oregon Tech and Albertson, all of which are one match behind the Raiders entering play tonight. Elliott, whose 2000 team finished one regionals victory away from qualifying for nationals, believes this squad will be one to reckon with come the postseason. "I've felt confident in this team the whole year," says the 11th-year coach, who has guided every SOU team he's had to at least the conference tournament. "I feel very confident that when we get into the playoffs, we'll play our best volleyball of the year and make plays and win matches when it counts." Although she says individual achievements are "not that big of a deal," Matchett is in hot pursuit of another SOU mark. Averaging a conference-leading 5.89 kills per game, Matchett needs just 28 kills to pass Susan Rodinsky's season record of 445 kills, set in 1998. All this from an athlete who wasn't even sure she would play collegiate volleyball until the final months of her senior year at Klamath Union. "After volleyball my senior year, I didn't really want to play," says Matchett, who also participated in basketball and track for the Pelicans and competed with the Klamath Basin Volleyball Club outside the school team. "It took me a couple months off to decide I wanted to play." Elliott began writing Matchett during her junior year at KU to convey the Raiders' interest, and Matchett finally responded that she would join the SOU program in the spring of 1999. A four-time team most valuable player and three-time first-team all-Southern Oregon Conference selection as a middle hitter for the Pelicans, Matchett immediately became a star in the middle for Elliott and the Raiders. Playing in all 100 of SOU's games in 2000, Matchett set a Raiders freshman record with 398 kills, finishing second on the team and third in the league in kills per game. Her .354 hitting percentage was second in the Cascade. In the offseason, Matchett began fiddling around at outside hitter for the first time, but there was no initial intention of a position change. "I would have needed to have my head examined with the season she had at middle to think of moving her," says Elliott. As the winter gave way to spring, however, Matchett decided she wanted to give outside hitter a full-time shot. "It's a lot more fun," says Matchett, comparing outside to middle hitter. "You get set the most." And Matchett is making the most of those sets, easily pacing the Cascade in attack percentage in addition to total kills. Surprised as he may be by the ease with which Matchett has made the transition to outside hitter, Elliott knew his star had the ability and the work ethic to do the job. "Kristina is just really athletic, and she has a knack for adjusting her body and putting herself in position to make plays," says Elliott. "She loves to play, and I think that really makes her improve. She's a very gifted volleyball player." And that has nothing to do with Maybeline. Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.