EUGENE, Ore. – After stumbling in the first set it was smooth sailing for the Bushnell volleyball team on Thursday as they opened the season with a 3-1 victory over William Jessup, 14-25, 27-25, 25-17, 25-15.
Head Coach Jason Corwin said, “William Jessup came out very aggressive in the first set. We accepted the result and got better. There was a lot of resilience and grit displayed tonight and I was impressed with how we responded.”
The game was the first of the Warrior Classic tournament and featured a .205 hitting performance and nine service aces from the visitors. “We had the first-set jitters, but once we got through that, each set we got stronger,” said senior Libero Callie Wilkins. “Makenna [Northern] did a great job in running our offense and the front-row really helped the back-row getting touches on the block.”
Northern, Bushnell’s All-American setter, started the season off in impressive fashion with 31 assists, eight digs, six kills, and three blocks. She said, ‘Our passing was amazing the last two sets, which made our offense run ultra-smooth. We were able to create holes in the opponent block for our hitters to get kills.”
It was a well-rounded attack for Bushnell as six players had at least five kills, led by nine from senior Camille Guerrero. Junior Payton Jones added five kills and led the Beacons with six blocks. Jessica Northcutt contributed seven kills, Halle Neumann posted six and Shay Coons posted five.
Bushnell owned nine service aces, including four from Bella Parque in her collegiate debut. Wilkins, meanwhile, added a match-high 18 digs and Jackie Harmon had ten.
The Beacons (1-0) continue to Warrior Classic with two matches on Friday. They face Simpson at 4:00 pm followed by Menlo at 7:00 pm. “We still have improvements to make,” said Northern, “but the resilience that was shown tonight by this team shows that we are willing to make those improvements.”