Nov. 12: SOU falls in finals; Matchett named MVP

Ashland Daily Tidings

PORTLAND - The Southern Oregon University volleyball team fell to Concordia Saturday night in the finals of the Cascade Conference tournament, but the Raiders are still moving on to this weekend's NAIA regional tournament in Helena, Mont.

SOU will open up regional play Friday at 1 p.m. against Cascade Conference foe Albertson and then face No. 2 seed Carroll College at 7 p.m. The top two teams from the regional tourney will advance to the national tournament.

Saturday night against the regular-season champs Concordia, the Raiders once again played the Cavs close before falling 30-26, 18-30, 30-17, 30-26.

It was the third time this year SOU has lost to Concordia.

"The margin between the two teams is getting smaller," Raider head coach Paul Elliott said. "We just make a few more mistakes. We had some unforced errors and some missed digs that hurt us. Take away the errors and we are playing straight up."

Sophomore Kristina Matchett led the Raider effort with a match-high 26 kills and 16 digs.

Senior setter Sabrina Garboden added 46 assists, while April Lowe added 13 digs.

The Raiders were also the big winners after the match in the awards ceremony as Elliott took home conference Coach of the Year honors and Matchett was named MVP.

Elliott, now a three-time award-winner, helped SOU overcome a 1-3 start to finish 11-5 in the conference race.

Matchett took the conference by storm in just her second year of intercollegiate volleyball.

The 5-10 outside hitter became the school's second MVP in three years after leading the loop for offense and breaking school records for kills in a game (14), match (33) and season (currently 150). The Klamath Union product enters this week's matches with the highest kills-per-game average (6.0) in conference history.

"I'm not surprised by anything she does anymore," Elliott said. "I've seen her do it day in and day out. The thing is she went up against Concordia and played like a MVP and that's just like I wanted her to play. She didn't know she had won it and I wanted her to go against the best and prove she deserved it and she did."

Garboden also received all-star honors after leading the conference in assists (12.13 per game) in her first season as a setter. Last year Garboden was named the loop's top defensive specialist.

Lowe was one of two all-star defensive specialist and senior Shelley Gorin received honorable mention accolades.

SOU women's soccer coach Jose Chavez was named the Cascade Conference soccer Coach of the Year, while senior sweeper Monica Doshier and junior goalkeeper Emily Schifferling were named first-team all-stars.

Senior forward Alison Richards and sophomore defender Stephanie Painter were both second-team selections.