ASHLAND, Ore. – The No. 12 Corban University volleyball team traveled to Ashland, Ore. to play at Southern Oregon University on Friday night, looking to take down the ninth-ranked Raiders. However, it was not in the cards, as the Warriors suffered another heartbreaking five-set loss to an NAIA top-25 foe.

"Tonight's match was a battle," said head coach Kim McLain. "In the end, it came down to the little things that we need to execute better."

The loss did not come from a lack of effort, as the Navy and Gold played a strong first set to jump on the Raiders early and won it, 25-20. However, the Raiders would prove to be resilient in this back-and-forth affair. Southern Oregon took set number two in a hard-fought battle 25-23.

Corban jumped back in front to take the advantage with another strong stretch of play in the third set, winning the game by a score of 25-20 once again. This put the Warriors up two sets to one heading into stanza number four.

The persistent Raiders did not want to go down at the hand of the Warriors for a second time this season, storming back in set number four to win it 25-17. The winner-take-all fifth set was tied 8-8 before the Raiders mounted a 7-2 run to close out the match, taking the win at home in front of a packed house at the Lithia Motors Pavilion.

The match was about as evenly split as it could have possibly been, but the Raiders' .242 attack percentage just outplayed the Warriors' .231 clip. Corban's 60 kills were also just one shy of SOU's 61. Interestingly, the Warriors had 81 points in comparison to the Raiders' 77, and the Navy and Gold led in aces and blocks as well.

It was a big night for the freshman Sarah Randall, who tallied 12 kills with no errors on the evening and hit at a .545 clip to lead the Warriors. Jacquelyn Clark also helped out on the offensive end by attacking at a .313 mark with eight kills and only three errors.

Jadyn Mullen (28 assists) and Ciarra Judson (23 assists) set the table for the Warriors in the match with 51 combined assists.

With the defeat, the Warriors fall to 15-7 on the season (12-4 CCC). The squad will look to right the ship when it hosts Warner Pacific University and Multnomah University at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center next weekend.