LA GRANDE, Ore. – For the fifth-consecutive season, the Corban University Women's Volleyball team will serve as one of the top two seeds in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament, which is scheduled to begin on Friday, November 15th with a pair of quarterfinal matches in the morning prior to their semifinal opponent being determined. The No. 8-ranked Warriors represent one of the four nationally ranked opponents in this year's tourney, along with a receiving votes squad and a Cinderella play-in team looking for a quarterfinal upset to keep their season alive.

"It is an honor to finish as one of the top six teams in the CCC and compete in this tournament," shared Corban head coach Kim McLain. "I truly feel that the CCC is one of the toughest conferences in the Nation and I look forward to battling this weekend against very talented teams which will push us and help prepare us for the National tournament."

To view the program for the 2024 CCC Tournament, click HERE.

Following a three-way tie for the CCC regular season title, the Warriors shared the conference crown with both No. 6-ranked Eastern Oregon University and No. 7-ranked Southern Oregon University for the first tri-champions in conference history, resulting in a three-team tiebreaker that saw the Mountaineers receive a host bid, the top overall seed, and the first of two automatic qualifiers into the NAIA National Tournament.

By way of conference guidelines, the Warriors were determined to be the second overall seed following an extended breakdown by the CCC office where specific phrasing was added to the sport in 2022 that stated all three-way tiebreakers would restart with head-to-head results before sets won versus sets played would come into play. Therefore, because of Corban's season sweep over SOU, the Navy and Gold were elevated to the No. 2-seed and saw the Raiders fall to the third overall seed, allowing the Warriors to gain a quarterfinal bye and await the results of the first round over the course of Friday morning by resting and having an opportunity to view all four of their potential opponents in-person during their respective quarterfinal matchups.

Following the Raiders in seeding is RV Bushnell University who finished their conference slate with a 14-8 record to match No. 22-ranked College of Idaho. However, the Beacons pick up the fourth seed due to a season sweep of the Yotes, which included a three-set sweep in Caldwell that firmly kept C of I behind Bushnell. The two nearly identical teams will face off for the third time this year in the tourney opener at 9am on Friday morning.

Thanks to a four-set road upset against six-seeded Lewis-Clark State College in the CCC play-in round, seven-seeded Oregon Tech will represent the only non-nationally ranked team in La Grande this weekend and will attempt to send their conference rival Raiders packing in the second quarterfinal match. The Lady Owls were 0-2 this year against Southern Oregon and dropped all six sets played yet have split the past eight matchups dating back to 2021 in their storied rivalry.

Attempting to clinch their second CCC tournament title in a four-year span, the Warriors will look towards their four All-Conference starters for leadership as they attempt to exit eastern Oregon with some more hardware to add to their already bulky trophy case. Yesterday, the conference office announced the All-Conference and Special Award winners for the 2024 season, where senior middle blocker Allyson Reid and junior setter Abby Guindy were named to First Team honors, junior opposite hitter Makayla Roginski picked up her third-straight Second Team award, while redshirt junior middle blocker Jadah Schmidtke secured Honorable Mention accolades to represent the 39th student-athlete to earn a spot on one of the various levels of All-Conference teams since 2015 for the Navy and Gold.

Reid, the program's all-time leader in blocks, along with Schmidtke who ranks third in the CCC in kill percentage and fourth all-time in Warrior team history, make the middle of the net an impenetrable wall for Coach McLain and her program, while Guindy has helped lead Roginski to a team-best 284 kills this season on a .235 kill percentage to represent one of the best one-two connections across the country.

Joining the Warriors' All-Conference selections in the starting lineup over the season has been sophomore outside hitters Emma Bischoff and Kendra Bittle with combined 527 kills at the net, combined with the defensive prowess of senior libero Marissa Uehara who leads the team in digs at 399, hitting the 1,000-dig mark for her career earlier this season. Bischoff also finished the 2024 season as the conference's leader in service aces at 49 in 27 matches, resulting in a 0.48 average which also tops all CCC student-athletes.

Defensive specialists in the form of sophomore Kaile'a Ontai and freshman Dani Street have provided an extra shield in the backcourt all season long, while freshman defensive specialist Madison Hernandez has adapted comfortably to the collegiate volleyball scene and settled into the serving specialist role with ease to secure the team 21 service aces to trail only Bischoff and Guindy within Coach McLain's rotation this year.

With key reserves such as sophomore setter Nadeiah Howard, junior opposite hitter Gracie Boeder (1.55 kills/set), senior setter Courtney Garwood (4.26 assists/set), and junior opposite hitter Kylie Davey (1.48 kills/set) ready to jump in and help lead the team to victory at a moment's notice, the Navy and Gold are primed for a postseason run similar to their 2022 national runner-up finish that represents the best team finish in program history, and it begins this weekend against some of the toughest, yet familiar, opponents the NAIA has to offer.

Corban volleyball will battle the highest remaining seed following the quarterfinal results in the second of two semifinal matchups tomorrow night, which could result in either Southern Oregon, Bushnell, or College of Idaho but would not include OIT, as EOU will match up with the lowest remaining seed. Those wishing to view any of the Warriors' contests during their 2024 CCC Tournament run can purchase the livestreaming on the Mountie Sports Network by clicking HERE, while live stats for tonight's semifinal match is available HERE.

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