GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Southern Oregon University beach volleyball team is two wins away from a national championship after blanking No. 6 Mobile (Ala.) in the NAIA Invitational quarterfinals Friday at the Greeneville Beach Volleyball Complex.
The Raiders, a day after taking down the tournament's top-ranked team, continued to defy their No. 8 seed in the program's first national postseason appearance. They completed pool play with a 4-1 win over No. 5 Arizona Christian, then got off to a perfect start in bracket play with consecutive straight-set victories against Mobile that prompted the dual to end early at a 3-0 decision.
SOU advanced to a matchup with Cascade Conference rival Corban, the No. 2 seed, in Saturday's semifinal round at 8 a.m. PT. The winner will move on to play No. 1 Ottawa (Ariz.) or No. 4 Park (Mo.) in the finals at 11 a.m.
The Raiders' defeat of Arizona Christian, in which they took all but the 1-pair matchup, made them at 2-1 in pool play and the No. 2 seed out of Pool A. It left them with Pool B's No. 3 seed, Mobile, in a quarterfinal round that was delayed by lightning.
The Raiders ensured the outcome wasn't delayed any further. They went up with a 21-10, 21-19 win from their 4-pair of Natalie Perez and Andressa Ribeiro Soares, then made the score 2-0 shortly after the storm passed with a 21-16, 21-9 win from 2-pair Grace Gulbrandsen and Linda Conceicao. Madi Gray and Tessa Zimmermann, their top duo, finished it off with little resistance – defeating Aspen Adams and Layton Adams by scores of 21-16 and 21-9.
SOU, now 19-10 overall, has won 13 of 18 matches at the tournament.
The Raiders will seek revenge against Corban, which was the CCC regular-season and tournament champion. The Warriors (25-1) are responsible for five of their losses this season, though all but one went down to the wire. Corban is unbeaten at the tournament and won 3-1 in its quarterfinal against Arizona Christian.
Southern Oregon 4, Arizona Christian 1 (Pool Play)
1. Haley Brown/Riley Brown (ACU) def. Madi Gray/Tessa Zimmermann (SOU) 23-21, 21-14
2. Grace Gulbrandsen/Linda Conceicao (SOU) def. Eliana Cho/Brianna Boeckman (ACU) 22-20, 21-13
3. Kira Sandoval/Lucretia Benolken (SOU) def. Abigail Nelson/Emee Fellens (ACU) 21-14, 22-20
4. Natalie Perez/Andressa Ribeiro Soares (SOU) def. Emily Katzer/Jaiden Mistelski-Zeis (ACU) 21-18,
15-21, 15-12
5. Skyy Nihipali-Botelho/Kendal Hadwick (SOU) def. Alyssa Robles/Kapri Espinosa (ACU) 21-14, 21-19
Order of finish: 2-4-1-5-3
Southern Oregon 3, Mobile (Ala.) 0 (Quarterfinals)
1. Madi Gray/Tessa Zimmermann (SOU) def. Aspen Adams/Layton Adams (Mobile) 21-16, 21-9
2. Grace Gulbrandsen/Linda Conceicao (SOU) def. Emma McPherson/Jenny Cope (Mobile) 21-16, 21-9
*3. Kira Sandoval/Lucretia Benolken (SOU) led Emma Hampton/Gabby Sheffield (Mobile) 21-13, 11-11*
4. Natalie Perez/Andressa Ribeiro Soares (SOU) def. Emma Todd/Emily Osborne (Mobile) 21-10, 21-19
*5. Jaci Drinnon/Rachel Dunaway (Mobile) led Skyy Nihipali-Botelho/Kendal Hadwick (SOU) 21-17, 12-8*
Order of finish: 4-2-1; *truncated matches