CHULA VISTA, Calif. – The Southern Oregon beach volleyball team clinched a spot in the semifinal round of the NAIA West Qualifier Tournament by cruising through its first two pool-play duals Thursday at the Elite Athlete Training Center.
The Raiders started the eight-team tournament with a 5-0 win against Park-Gilbert (Ariz.), the third-place team out of the California Pacific Conference. A few hours later, they avenged their loss to Bushnell on the final day of the Cascade Conference regular season by getting back at the Beacons with a 4-1 victory.
The Raiders needed a top-two finish in the Pool B round robin to reach bracket play. They were assured of that when both they and Westcliff (Calif.) – their final round robin opponent at 9 a.m. Friday – got out of the first day at 2-0, eliminating Bushnell and Park-Gilbert from contention.
The semifinal round is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday. The SOU-Westcliff winner will match up with the loser of a dual between Corban and Saint Katherine (Calif.), which both stand at 2-0 in Pool A. The SOU-Westcliff loser will face the winner of that dual.
The championship is set for 10 a.m. Saturday with a spot in the eight-team NAIA Invitational on the line.
SOU upped its record to 12-3 with the wins. Two of its pairs went to tiebreakers against Park-Gilbert – No. 1 Madi Gray and Tessa Zimmermann and No. 5 Natalie Perez and Natasha Perez – but the Raiders had already secured the dual by the time those were decided thanks to sweeps from their Nos. 2, 3 and 4 pairs.
SOU defeated Bushnell for the third time in four tries this season. The Beacons had claimed the most recent matchup and put the pressure on again by splitting the first two matches of the dual, but the Raiders answered by taking the Nos. 1, 3 and 5 pairs in straight sets. Of those, only Gray and Zimmermann, who outlasted Halle Neumann and Kate Palelek 27-25 in a marathon second set, were pushed.
"When you play a team four times, you know each other so well that it can even the playing field," SOU coach Paul Elliott said. "We had several hard-fought matches but it was a great day for Raider Beach. I'm proud of our team."
No. 2 pair Grace Gulbrandsen and Kira Sandoval didn't allow either of their opponents to score more than 16 points in a set. Lucretia Benolken and Kendal Hadwick, the No. 3 pair, outscored their foes 84-57 combined. The Perez sisters, meanwhile, moved to 15-0 overall, and the set loss was just their second of the spring.
Southern Oregon 5, Park-Gilbert 0
1. Madi Gray/Tessa Zimmermann (SOU) def. Railey Druxman/Daisy Motes (PUG) 21-15, 17-21, 15-11
2. Grace Gulbrandsen/Kira Sandoval (SOU) def. Nichole Gary/Grace Baker (PUG) 21-15, 21-16
3. Lucretia Benolken/Kendal Hadwick (SOU) def. Taylor Van Winkle/Jess Goldsmith (PUG) 21-14, 21-18
4. Annie Hite/Skyy Nihipali-Botelho (SOU) def. Danielle Miranda-Johnson/Porsche Bauer (PUG) 21-12, 21-15
5. Natalie Perez/Natasha Perez (SOU) def. Avery Turk/Eliza Pearson (PUG) 18-21, 21-13, 15-5
Southern Oregon 4, Bushnell 1
1. Madi Gray/Tessa Zimmermann (SOU) def. Halle Neumann/Kate Palelek (BU) 21-11, 27-25
2. Grace Gulbrandsen/Kira Sandoval (SOU) def. Brooke Silvernail/Anessa Stotts (BU) 21-16, 21-16
3. Lucretia Benolken/Kendal Hadwick (SOU) def. Jadeya Hayes/Courtney Isom (BU) 21-10, 21-15
4. Laci Jespersen/Sydney Myhre (BU) def. Annie Hite/Skyy Nihipali-Botelho (SOU) 16-21, 22-20, 15-13
5. Natalie Perez/Natasha Perez (SOU) def. Roslyn McLellan/Mai Tomlin (BU) 21-11, 21-15