ASHLAND – The No. 2-ranked Corban beach volleyball team survived its toughest test yet to clinch a second consecutive Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season championship on Friday at the Raider Beach Courts.
After starting the afternoon with a breezy 5-0 sweep of Simpson (Calif.), the Warriors held off No. 7 Southern Oregon for a 3-2 win that wasn’t decided until a tight 1-pair finale wrapped up.
They improved to 15-1 overall and 13-0 in the CCC – locking up the title with two duals to spare while ensuring they’ll host the CCC Tournament in Salem – and have now won 24 of 25 conference duals since the circuit was formalized prior to last season.
Against the second-place Raiders (8-7, 6-3), their No. 2 pair of Kaile’a Ontai and Danae Stokes and No. 4 pair of Alexis Adebodun and Gabi Engels got them out to a 2-0 lead – the former in a tiebreaker set. After SOU rallied to even the score, the Warriors’ top pair, Megan Dennis and Emma Bischoff, prevailed in extra points both sets of a 22-20, 23-21 victory over Madi Gray and Tessa Zimmermann.
Since the start of last season, six of seven duals between Corban and SOU have ended in 3-2 finals. All but one has gone the Warriors’ way.
Bushnell (3-10, 3-9) defeated Simpson (0-10, 0-10), 4-1, in the final matchup of the day.
Three more are on tap Saturday: Bushnell vs. SOU at 10 a.m., Corban vs. Simpson at noon, and Bushnell vs. SOU again at 2 p.m.