Oct. 22: Raider netters need wins to keep in CCC title hunt

By Rich Rosenthal

For the Tidings

The 16th-ranked Southern Oregon University volleyball team plays just one match this week, but it's anything but a light week when the particular opponent happens to be archrival Oregon Tech.

Plenty is at stake when the Owls visit McNeal Pavilion for the Friday night fray. Even though the 16-3, second-place Raiders are 12-1 in Cascade Conference action and have won 14 of their past 15 overall and 11 straight at home, a stumble would in all likelihood hand the league title and subsequent postseason tournament hosting rights to three-time defending champion and 13th-ranked Concordia. Meanwhile, OIT (17-5, 9-4) enters the week tied for third in the loop chase and could finish anywhere between second and sixth.

Friday's encounter also marks the start of a three-match Raider homestand against a top-tier conference team. Western Baptist, which is tied for third with OIT, and Concordia, which has won 60 straight league matches, are in Ashland the following weekend.

Tech will be paddling against an historical current Friday, as the Raiders have won all four clashes in Ashland since the Klamath Falls school reinstated its program in 1998, and seven-in-a-row dating back to 1987. Southern Oregon also downed OIT in straight frames at Miles Court on Sept. 20 to take a 56-27 all-time series lead.

Women's Soccer

The Southern Oregon University women's soccer team's hopes for a third Cascade Conference playoff berth in as many seasons as an intercollegiate program are not dead, but vital signs are weak.

A miraculous, soap-opera-style recovery hinges on an upward spike in fortunes starting Friday afternoon at University Field against fourth-place Albertson (9-7, 7-5) and Saturday against ninth-place Eastern Oregon (2-14, 2-10), the home season-finale.

Third-year coach Jose Chavez believes Southern Oregon, which has struggled to a 4-9-2 record and starts the week in sixth-place in the conference with a 3-6-2 mark, must win at least four of its five remaining contests to extend the season into the four-team conference tournament.

One of the wins must come against the resurgent Coyotes, who topped SOU 3-2 in Caldwell on Sept. 21 but have dropped both previous visits to Ashland.

Cross Country

The Southern Oregon University cross country teams are idle for the next two weekends, but the period is key in Raider training for the all-important Cascade Conference and NAIA Region I meet on Nov. 9 at Medford's Fichtner/Mainwaring Park.

How the Raiders fare in the championship fray will determine how the school fares in the final NAIA top-25 poll, which also determines at-large berths to the national meet in Kenosha, Wis. on Nov. 23.

Southern Oregon's women's harriers assembled their best showing of the season by placing second among eight squads at the Willamette Open at Salem's Bush Pasture Park last Saturday. The Raiders out-paced the 14th-ranked NCAA Div. III host Bearcats and finished behind only 16th-ranked Eastern Oregon (1:32:57) with a combined time of 1:36:01.

The Southern men must wait until Friday to see if their fifth-place finish behind third-ranked NCAA Div. III Willamette, second-ranked Eastern Oregon and 16th-ranked British Columbia will be good enough to either move up or hold on to the school's No. 25 perch in the NAIA poll.

Junior Sean Peterson led the young Raiders for the third straight meet, finishing 19th among 95 runners at a 20:38 pace. SOU's other scorers were freshman Ryan Pheil (22nd, 20:46), freshman Zack Worth (30th, 20:59), freshman Ryan Manies (38th, 21:17) and freshman Brian Davis (43rd, 21:28).

Complete results are posted at:

http://www.willamette.edu/athletics.