PANAMA CITY, Fla. – It took every pair for the No. 2-ranked Corban University Beach Volleyball team (22-5) to avenge their pool play loss in the National Semifinals over No. 6-ranked Webber International University (22-8), taking a 3-2 decision over the Floridian Warriors to advance to their second-straight NAIA National Championship match.

"The team played as a unit today," Corban Head Coach Diana Villalpando began by sharing in her analysis of today's results. "The beauty of this team is that we can truly play knowing that we all have each other's backs. Not every pair is on all the time, that's why it takes all five pairs to pull out wins."

When asked what she thought about Webber International's performance today, Villalpando stated, "Webber is a team who came to play this tournament and surely both proved and deserved to be there. It was a battle to the very end."

Looking ahead to tomorrow's national championship rematch from the 2022 season with the Lions, a team Corban has beaten twice thus far in this tourney, Villalpando said, "It's hard to beat a team twice, and we know Vanguard is coming for us. Just because we beat them in pool play doesn't mean anything now. We all start at 0-0 tomorrow."

Villalpando concluded by sharing, "We must come ready to compete and not back down from a fight, because that's what it's going to be. Two very good teams with good ball control and offensive weapons. I have no doubt and expect this to go point-for-point and down to the wire. That's the scary but fun part about this sport. We're all looking forward to tomorrow, and now it's up to these young ladies to come out and play their hearts out."

All seemed to be firmly in the hands of the Navy and Gold early in the pairs this afternoon, as Corban took four of the first five sets to hold a slight advantage of WIU. The Warriors even managed to jump out to a 2-0 pair lead after the twos (juniors Kianna Keeling and Cameron Keeling) and fours (sophomores Jessica McMillian and Maya Blake) each secured 2-0 sweeps of their Webber counterparts.

However, this semifinal match was far from over, as the three other pairs were all forced to a third and decisive set, providing WIU with an opportunity to reverse sweep with just three sets to 15 standing in their way.

After clinching the third pairs, Webber powered to a 15-7 third set win in the fives to tie the match at 2-2 overall, leaving the fate of this decision in the hands of the top overall pairs for each squad. Corban senior Avari Ridgway and sophomore Megan Dennis were able to dig deep in front of the entire remaining tourney participants that stood in wait for a result, securing a 15-10 win in the third set and send the Warriors back to the title bout once again.

The full results from today's matchups can be found below:

Corban 3, Webber 2

1. Megan Dennis and Avari Ridgway (CRB) def. Cindy Garcia and Montana Pelak (WIU); (21-13, 18-21, 15-10)

2. Cameron Keeling and Kianna Keeling (CRB) def. Bailey Sikkema and Kendall Steinert (WIU); (21-15, 21-15)

3. Nadia Reid and Kiersten Tisdale (WIU) def. Kealani Ontai and Ally Schmidt (CRB); (21-12, 18-21, 15-12)

4. Maya Blake and Jessica McMillian (CRB) def. Lilly Arnold and Wanda Harris (WIU); (21-15, 21-10)

5. Abby Baxter and Delanie Johnson (WIU) def. Jolinn Daviscourt and Kalisi Latu (CRB); (15-21, 21-19, 15-7)

The Warriors will meet the No. 3-ranked Vanguard University Lions (20-5) in the National Championship match for the second-consecutive year, with the epic rematch scheduled for a 12pm CDT/10am PDT start time at the Panama City Beach Pier.

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