SALEM, Ore. – The final tournament of the inaugural Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season came to a close today on the campus of Corban University, where the Warriors secured a dual win in the opening hours to secure the regular season crown on their home courts, while a loss to RV Southern Oregon University’s record in the second match clinched the title outright and eliminated all tiebreaker scenarios.
With only one match remaining in conference play, the conference seeding for the upcoming NAIA West Beach Volleyball Championships are now set, with Corban representing the No. 1-CCC team, followed by Southern Oregon, College of Idaho, and Bushnell University. The four teams will participate in the first conjoined conference tournament of its kind next week in Chula Vista, California along with the top four teams from the Cal Pac Conference. Complete seeding and pool play groupings will be announced by the conferences in the coming days.
“It was a great feeling to wrap up the conference title today and we played well in doing so,” Warriors’ head coach Dan Stephens stated earlier this afternoon. “The weather was consistently wet for all of the matches played today, so everyone was on an equal playing field and as a conference, we cannibalized ourselves. There was some really good ball played today, and it was fun to be a part of as a coach and as a spectator.
Coach Stephens carried on by sharing, “SOU came out with confidence right out of the gate against us and while we fought well, they were the better team today. There are things we can learn from the matches today and I hope we can implement some of those things tomorrow against a very strong C of I team. We also honored our three seniors, Kiley O’Rourke, Marlee Jasso, and Nicole Bantilan, who have all been integral parts of our team for the four seasons they’ve been here and have all set great examples to their teammates.”
Match 1 – No. 2 Corban 5, Northwest 0
With a championship trophy on the horizon, the Warriors (14-3, 10-1) left no doubt in their dominant opener against Northwest University (2-16, 0-12), taking all but one pair in straight sets to celebrate their most recent achievement among their fellow teammates, family, friends, and Corban students.
In the battle of the top seeds, Megan Dennis and Emma Bischoff from the Navy and Gold were able to gut out a three-set victory over the Eagles’ Caitlyn James and Carlee Rowell, who nearly flipped a 21-15 first set loss into a come-from-behind victory with a 21-16 second set victory. However, Dennis and Bischoff held off the NU duo with a 17-15 third set win to clinch the five-pair sweep over Northwest.
1. Megan Dennis/Emma Bischoff (CRB) def. Caitlyn James/Carlee Rowell (NU) 21-15, 16-21, 17-15
2. Danae Stokes/Jessica McMillian (CRB) def. Masa Spela Jarc/Madelynn Culp (NU) 21-8, 21-14
3. Emmi Marks/Kiley Power (CRB) def. Kylie Lunday/Sophia Rice (NU) 21-17, 22-20
4. Allyson Reid/Erin Scott (CRB) def. Brynn Keeling/Kylie Rankins (NU) 21-9, 21-8
5. Angela Stover/Cammie Masanda (CRB) def. Kali Dransfeldt/Sydney Faber (NU) 21-19, 21-8
Match 2 – Bushnell 3, (RV) SOU 2
Looking to snap a four-match losing streak, Bushnell University (6-16, 4-8) entered their single matchup today in the state capital with a reinvigorated style of play, pushing Southern Oregon (10-3, 9-3) to the max with three of their five pairs going the distance this afternoon. With the two CCC programs knotted at a pair apiece, the Raiders jumped ahead after their fifth pairing of sisters Natalie and Natasha Perez were able to secure 21-18 and 21-6 wins over their Beacon counterparts.
However, Bushnell was far from bowing out and looked to avenge their 5-0 sweep by SOU this past Thursday, as their top pair represented by Halle Neumann and Kate Palelek replicated 21-18 scores in both the first and second sets over Raiders’ Madi Gray and Tessa Zimmermann to create a winner-take-all scenario in the third overall pairings.
After dropping the first set 21-18 to Southern Oregon’s Lucretia Benolken and Kendal Hadwick, the Beacons’ duo of Courtney Isom and Jadeya Hayes bounced back with a 21-15 win in set two, followed by a convincing 15-12 final set score to clinch the match over the Raiders in upset fashion. The victory was Bushnell’s first over SOU this season and prevented Southern Oregon from earning at least a share of the regular season title with Corban.
1. Halle Neumann/Kate Palelek (BU) def. Madi Gray/Tessa Zimmermann (SOU) 21-18, 21-18
2. Grace Gulbrandsen/Kira Sandoval (SOU) def. Brooke Silvernail/Anessa Stotts (BU) 20-22, 21-17, 15-8
3. Courtney Isom/Jadeya Hayes (BU) def. Lucretia Benolken/Kendal Hadwick (SOU) 18-21, 21-15, 15-12
4. Sydney Myhre/Laci Jespersen (BU) def. Annie Hite/Skyy Nihipali-Bo. (SOU) 21-13, 11-21, 15-13
5. Natalie Perez/Natasha Perez (SOU) def. Roslyn McLellan/Reagan Walker (BU) 21-18, 21-6
Ext. Addison Weckerle/Carlee-Rose Lederer (SOU) def. Avery Lenssen/Mai Tomlin (BU) 21-17, 21-12
Match 3 – (RV) C of I 3, Northwest 2
After seeing the Beacons upend their higher ranked opponent in the match prior, Northwest put RV College of Idaho (6-6, 6-5) to the test right off the bat, as their second overall pair of Masa Spela Jarc and Madelynn Culp snagged 21-18 and 21-13 sets over the Yotes’ Althea Sandoval and Lauren Gauna to take an early 1-0 pair lead. C of I was narrowly able to tie the match up in the fours, with Keylee Wilson and Ellie Baker coming back from a 1-0 set deficit with 21-16 and 16-14 second and third set scores.
For the second-consecutive match on Corban’s campus, the first and fifth pairing were split between the two conference foes to set up another crucial third pairing that would decide the fate of the match results, where C of I’s Emily Vanderberg and Liza Montalbo cruised to 21-14 and 21-12 decisions for the 3-2 final match score. The Eagles fought valiantly in their final regular season dual in the 2024 season, and will look to build upon that momentum next season as the CCC continues to grow and prosper under the new beach volleyball standings.
1. Caitlyn James/Carlee Rowell (NU) def. DEWS, Sydney/MCUNE, Haley (CI) 21-13, 21-18
2. Masa Spela Jarc/Madelynn Culp (NU) def. SANDOVAL, Althea/GAUNA, Lauren (CI) 21-18, 21-13
3. VANDENBERG, Emily/MONTALBO, Liza (CI) def. Kylie Lunday/Sophia Rice (NU) 21-14, 21-12
4. WILSON, Keylee/BAKER, Ellie (CI) def. Brynn Keeling/Kylie Rankins (NU) 20-22, 21-16, 16-14
5. VALAIKA, Greta/ARTMANN, Brianna (CI) def. Kali Dransfeldt/Sydney Faber (NU) 21-16, 21-17
Match 4 – (RV) SOU 3, No. 2 Corban 2
Despite having lost an opportunity to share the regular season crown with Corban, Southern Oregon shook off the first match loss to take the first three pairs and hand the Warriors their first loss to an NAIA opponent all year long. The entire match eventually flipped in favor of SOU via the successful comeback in the number two pairs, where Grace Gulbrandsen and Kira Sandoval fought back from a 21-18 opening set loss to nab 21-13 and 15-7 victories to put their program up 2-0 through the first round of pairs.
The Perez sisters once again handled their adversaries to clinch the dual with two pairs still to be played, where even though the match result had already been decided, the Warriors first and third pairings kept their program out of sweep and 4-1 territory to show just how evenly matched these two teams have been all season long, with their third and final meeting ending 3-2 after their first two duals ended 3-2 in favor of the Warriors.
1. Megan Dennis/Emma Bischoff (CRB) def. Madi Gray/Tessa Zimmermann (SOU) 21-13, 25-23
2. Grace Gulbrandsen/Kira Sandoval (SOU) def. Danae Stokes/Jessica McMillian (CRB) 18-21, 21-13, 15-7
3. Kiley Power/Emmi Marks (CRB) def. Lucretia Benolken/Kendal Hadwick (SOU) 21-17, 19-21, 15-10
4. Annie Hite/Skyy Nihipali-Bo. (SOU) def. Allyson Reid/Erin Scott (CRB) 21-9, 23-21
5. Natalie Perez/Natasha Perez (SOU) def. Angela Stover/Cammie Masanda (CRB) 21-14, 21-15
Ext. Addison Weckerle/Carlee-Rose Lederer (SOU) def. Marlee Jasso/Kiley O'Rourke (CRB) 21-16, 21-13
The Warriors and Yotes will conclude the 2024 regular season for the CCC tomorrow back on Corban’s campus at 10am, as they’ll make up their first contest that was originally scheduled for the SOU tourney back in March.
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