ASHLAND, Ore. – After a bit of a shaky start to the season, the No. 19-ranked Bushnell volleyball team evened things out in the afternoon, coming out of the Raider Invitational with a split.
Head Coach Jason Corwin said, "We started out a little rough against a good team not making very many errors. We had late leads but couldn't close out the sets. Credit to CSM for finishing the sets strong. We settled down for our second match and started finding our competitive personality."
College of Saint Mary 3, #19 Bushnell University 0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-15)
The Beacons were handed an upset loss in their first match of the season, dropping a three-setter to College of Saint Mary. The Beacons hit .099 in the match and scored just 39 points compared to 53 for the Flames. CSM out-blocked the Beacons 7-4 and held a 49-44 advantage in digs.
Taya Blankenship made her debut for the Beacons and led the team with eight kills, adding a pair of service aces. Amyah Semau collected six kills and eight digs while Emma Fa'alogo opened up her senior season with a double-double, securing 16 assists and ten digs.
Jerzie Bair made her Bushnell debut on the right side, collecting five kills and a team-high four blocks while Soliel Sand added three blocks. Chloe Farr earned a team-high 14 digs.
For the College of Saint Mary, Briar Ray led all players with nine kills while Elen Pruett collected 19 digs.
#19 Bushnell University 3, Simpson University 1 (25-21, 25-14, 21-25, 25-23)
The Beacons responded well a few hours later, taking care of Simpson University in four sets. The Raiders had taken No. 24-ranked Southern Oregon University to five sets earlier on Friday.
Bushnell attacked at a .188 clip in the match, earning 45 kills. They out-blocked the Raiders 9-4, led by a five-block match from Carly Hanna. The Beacons also collected ten service aces, getting three apiece from Semau and Farr.
"We got a lot of service pressure early which set up our offense," said Corwin. "When Simpson figured that out we started finding different ways to score points. It was a lot of learning today. We will get back in the gym and continue to get better before our next match."
Semau had a strong match on the outside as well, earning a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs, hitting .382 with just one attack error. Addie Evans added six kills and three blocks. Fa'alogo contributed 23 assists and ten digs. Farr finished with 12 digs.
"Our team did a very good job coming together and staying together against Simpson," said Fa'alogo. "It was a well-deserved win and I am so proud of how this team finished and closed out."
Semau added, "I think we did a great job applying pressure throughout the match. It was a great opportunity to showcase what we have been working on in fall camp and I am proud of how we finished."
UP NEXT: Bushnell will return to action on August 26, playing their home opener as Linfield University makes their way into the Morse Center at 4:00 pm.