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Raiders prepare for national tournament Southern Oregon makes appearance in NAIA national volleyball tournament for the first time in school history By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune Spring break is months away, but the Southern Oregon volleyball team is nonetheless heading to Florida today. And the Raiders have bigger plans for their excursion to West Palm Beach, Fla., than surf, suds and sunshine. SOU is a participant in the 20-team NAIA national tournament for the first time in school history. The Raiders (21-8 overall) were the surprise winners of their regional tournament on Nov. 17 to earn a nationals invitation. They beat No. 16-ranked Lewis-Clark State in an epic semifinal and upset No. 13 Carroll College on its home court in Helena, Mont., in the championship match. "I kept saying, 'I feel something special about this team,' " says 11th-year SOU head coach Paul Elliott, whose Raiders started 1-3 in Cascade Conference play before winning 10 of 12 to finish second at 11-5 in the conference. "This is where every team wants to get to. And this is the first time in school history we've made it, so it's very exciting." Armed with its first regional title since 1977, SOU begins pool play at nationals on Wednesday. The 12th-seeded Raiders are in Pool D, along with fourth-seeded St. Mary of Nebraska (31-2), fifth-seeded Fresno Pacific of California (30-3), 13th-seeded Grace of Indiana (25-11) and 20th-seeded Loyola of Louisiana (33-8). SOU faces Fresno Pacific at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, tangles with Loyola at 9 a.m. Thursday, goes against St. Mary at 1:30 p.m. Thursday and ends pool play against Grace at 1:30 p.m. Friday. The Raiders must finish first or second in their pool to advance to the quarterfinals. "I think it's a great pool for us," says Elliott, who has seen Fresno Pacific play this season and will get a chance to scout every other team in the pool before SOU faces them. The quarterfinals will be played Friday night, and the semifinals and championship match are scheduled for Saturday morning and night, respectively. Sophomore outside hitter Kristina Matchett is the Raiders' top player. She has a school-record 606 kills this season and was named the Cascade's most valuable player. Senior setter Sabrina Garboden was also named first-team all-Cascade after pacing the conference in assists. Sophomore defensive specialist April Lowe was SOU's third player honored as first-team all-Cascade, and senior outside hitter Michele Dardis and junior middle Kacee Jacobsen made integral contributions during the regional tournament. "We just wanna play the same way we've been playing," Elliott says. "We've worked real hard and talked a lot to make sure that we continue playing like ourselves and don't try to be something we're not. "If we do play like we're capable and like we have, we think we have a good chance." 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.