SALEM, Ore. – A career day from redshirt junior middle blocker Jadah Schmidtke powered the No. 8-ranked Corban University Volleyball team to a rivalry victory tonight on Tim Hills Court, as the Warriors completed another season sweep of RV Bushnell University with a four-set victory to extend their winning streak against the Beacons to seven-consecutive contests. The Navy and Gold took three-straight sets after dropping the opener 22-25, logging 25-18, 25-22, and 25-22 final scores to take the match.
"Bushnell came out tonight passing well which allowed them to run their offense effectively, Corban head coach Kim McLain evaluated. "We knew we had to settle in and defend at the net, as well as play scrappy in the back court. I was proud of the team working together to find their stride and earn the win."
The Warriors (15-2, 11-1) and Beacons (13-7, 8-4) each kicked off their second halves of Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play tonight with their 30th overall matchup since 2008, where Corban held a 20-9 advantage heading into their contest, having not lost to Bushnell on their home court since the 2013 season. Despite routing the Beacons in the first set played against each other in 2024 this past September in Eugene, Bushnell was able to hold their own over the last two sets and build up momentum of being the fourth-ranked team in the CCC with their only losses coming to the conference's nationally ranked programs to eventually begin receiving votes in the most recent NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll.
It was strictly business for the Beacons to begin the match, as they rattled off a 12-5 scoring run that forced Coach McLain to utilize both of her timeouts just 17 points into the match in an attempt to reset her team's mentality. The Warriors would eventually battle back to pull within a single point at 22-21, yet back-to-back kills by opposite hitter Maddy Ladd and setter Elijah Sanders provided Bushnell with set point and saw the road team complete the upset to start the match, 25-22.
A 6-1 run to kickstart the second set for the Beacons had Coach McLain calling yet another timeout to stop the momentum, which this time worked out in her favor as Corban scored on four-straight rallies to cut the deficit to a single point. The two CCC rivals would trade rallies until the 16-15 mark, where the Navy and Gold would score five-consecutive points to force the Beacons into a late timeout at 21-15. Bushnell would only score three more points as the Warriors would run away with a 25-18 set win and knot the match at one set apiece.
The first replay challenge of the evening from Bushnell would come in the third set at 11-7 amid a Corban run, as head coach Jason Corwin contested a pancake dig from Warriors' freshman defensive specialist Dani Street. The call would stand on the court after a lengthy review and allow the Navy and Gold to keep their scoring streak alive.
Just two points from taking the set at 23-17, the Warriors cruised into a timeout with all the energy in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center funneled into their bench area, which was quickly eradicated once the Beacons composed themselves and scored five-straight points, pulling within a single score at 23-22. However, junior opposite hitter Makayla Roginski would step up and control the narrative from there, bouncing back-to-back kills of the hardwood to put her program up two sets to one.
Neither squad grew their lead to more than two points in the fourth period until Bushnell had a rare dig/kill scenario from setter Kate Palelek, who dug up an attack by the Warriors and saw the ball careen back over the net and perfectly placed itself into the right corner of Corban's backcourt. Despite the increase in energy for the Beacons following Palelek's stellar play, junior opposite hitter Kylie Davey entered to demolish a pair of well-timed kills, and the Navy and Gold rattled off a 4-2 run with eventually three-straight blocking plays to once again pull within a point at 18-17.
Out of the Bushnell timeout, the Warriors saw one of their 15 team blocks registered by Roginski and senior middle blocker Allyson Reid, who denied Beacons' outside hitter Hailey Heider her 14th kill of the evening to force the late game draw. The two teams would trade rallies before a Bushnell service error and another attacking error by Heider resulted in Coach Corwin calling his final timeout of the set and eventually, the match.
Schmidtke and Roginski swatted another Heider attack on the very next play and while Heider got her revenge to pull Bushnell within two points at 22-20, another Beacons service error and a timely kill from Schmidtke provided Corban with match point. Heider and outside hitter Ariana Guerra secured Bushnell's final points of the evening before Heider sent her serve attempt long to clinch the match for the Warriors.
A career-high 11 kills from Schmidtke with only two errors on the night was one of the two sides that she showed from an offensive perspective, while her game-high nine block assists pulled her within one of tying her career-best mark set in 2023. Roginski secured a team-high 13 kills with four blocks, while sophomore outside hitter Kendra Bittle tied Schmidtke with 11 kills of her own and six digs.
Junior setter Abby Guindy clinched her fifth double-double of the year with the game-high assist mark of 25 and was the team's leading backcourt specialist with 13 digs. Fellow setter and sophomore Nadeiah Howard added 21 dimes, while senior libero Marissa Uehara snagged 11 digs.
The game-high leaders in both kills and digs were represented by Heider's 17 kills and libero Bella Parque's 21 digs, with Heider earning a double-double thanks to 15 digs in the backcourt in her all-around role. Outside hitter Amyah Semau added another 15 digs for the Beacons, while setter Katie Belitz dealt out a team-best 24 dimes.
The Warriors are next in action this upcoming Friday back on their home court, as they'll welcome Multnomah (1-15, 1-11) at 6pm and look to extend their undefeated record against the Lions to 18-0 all-time.
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