School Name Goes Here

The 16th-ranked Southern Oregon volleyball team returns to McNeal Pavilion this weekend with a pair of matches against unbeaten Cascade Conference opponents.

Southern hosts Eastern Oregon (5-2, 2-0) Friday night and 13th-ranked College of Idaho (4-3, 2-0) Saturday night. Both matches start at 7 p.m.

While all eyes may be on another epic battle between the Raiders and Coyotes on Saturday, a stingy and improved Eastern squad stands in the way Friday night.

The Mountaineers have won three in a row and rank third in the league in attack percentage (.201) and opponent attack percentage (.117).

Junior Jessica Lea is the star of the Mountaineers, ranking second in attack percentage (.366) and third in kills per set (3.36).

"They are a team that keeps getting more athletic every year," SOU head coach Josh Rohlfing said. "Like with any program and a new coach, they are getting a big boost of excitement and right now they are riding that and playing really good volleyball."

Southern Oregon is coming off an opening weekend sweep of Warner Pacific and Concordia. The weekend featured the coming out party of junior middle blocker Megan Bartling and a return to All-American form for senior setter Lindsey Stone.

Bartling earned Conference Hitter of the Week honors after busting loose for 23 kills and an attack percentage of .513 in the two matches. Stone earned the Setter of the Week honors after averaging 11.8 assists per set.

Bartling and fellow middle blocker Lauren Swetland are now both appearing on the NAIA leaderboard for blocks per set. Swetland ranks 18th with an average of 1.31, while Bartling is 21st at 1.30.

Saturday's battle with the Yotes should go down as one of the best of year, like it does every year.

The two Cascade Conference juggernauts shared the Cascade Conference title last year and have combined to win the last seven regular season titles.

With Rohlfing at the helm at SOU, neither team has won on the others homecourt during the regular season over the last three years.

The Raiders were ranked 13th in the NAIA Preseason Poll, while the Coyotes were ranked 16th. The Raiders went 3-2 in the preseason with setbacks to No. 1 Fresno Pacific and No. 13 Embry Riddle (Fla.). The Coyotes went 2-3 in the preseason with two setbacks to No. 9 Azusa Pacific and a split with No. 20 Westminster (Utah). This week the two teams swapped places in the first edition of the regular season poll.

The Coyotes are led by Sarah Harris and her .336 attack percentage and 4.00 kills per set average. Senior Whitney Owen is averaging 4.79 digs per set this year and had an almost un-heard of nearly seven digs per set this past weekend.

"They are a team that continues to win matches and are always well coached," Rohlfing said. "This will be a really huge test for us and another measuring point for our program."