KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Southern Oregon University juniors Natalie Perez and Kendal Hadwick are the third SOU pair to be awarded NAIA Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week after delivering a defining weekend that reshaped the Cascade Conference race. The duo, both Oregon natives, continued to set the standard at the No. 5 flight as the Raiders went 3-0 and, in the process, knocked off No. 2-ranked Corban (Ore.) twice to move ahead of the Warriors in the standings.
Perez and Hadwick’s consistency has been the backbone of Southern Oregon’s success all season, and their numbers reflect it. They own a 14-1 season record as a pair and have helped the Raiders compile a 13-2 overall team mark. Most impressively, they improved to 12-0 in Cascade Conference action, repeatedly turning their court into a reliable point in duals that often swing on a single match.
The weekend began Friday with Southern Oregon’s 4-1 win over No. 2 Corban, where Perez and Hadwick set the tone with a straight-sets victory over Jordan Faircloth and Rebecca Wilber, 21-16, 21-16. Later that day against Bushnell (Wash.), they were even more dominant, dispatching Haley Engelbrecht and Kailey Shirley 21-12, 21-9 as the Raiders again won 4-1. Southern Oregon then returned Saturday for a pivotal rematch with Corban and came away with another 4-1 win, completing the sweep of the weekend and delivering a result that carried extra weight.
In that Saturday rubber match, Perez and Hadwick produced the moment that defined the week. Facing Payton Bazant and Jordan Faircloth, they battled through a tense three-setter and earned the clinching point for the dual, winning 21-19, 22-24, 15-8. With the match on the line, they responded after dropping the second set and closed decisively in the third.
This is the final Pair of the Week for the 2026 NAIA Women's Beach Volleyball season.