CALDWELL, Idaho – Trailing 2-1 with just two pairings left, the third and fifth pairs of the No. 2-ranked Corban University Beach Volleyball team dug deep and completed the 3-2 comeback victory over their tourney hosts for the weekend, defeating RV College of Idaho in their first conference matchup this season.

"Today was a real test for our squad," explained Corban head coach Dan Stephens. "We were without Megan at our ones, meaning we needed to change some of our lineups around. College of Idaho played really well and pushed us all the way, but we stepped up and got the win. Tomorrow, we have to play two matches and we will need to play our best ball of the season if we want to win those matchups."

With their first dual this season having to be rescheduled due to snow throughout southern Oregon a few weeks ago, the Warriors (9-2, 5-0) and Yotes (3-3, 3-3) went head-to-head on the newly built beach volleyball courts constructed on C of I's campus, where it was the lower ranked program who flipped a 1-0 Corban advantage into a 2-1 lead after managing to take both the fourth and first pairings while the Warriors battled through some injuries to key players.

However, this wasn't the first time the Navy and Gold had faced adversity this season and used that experience to their advantage, as the fifth pairing of redshirt freshman Payton Bazant and true freshman Jordan Faircloth made quick work of their College of Idaho counterparts in Clair Hodge and Greta Valaika, taking 21-15 and 23-21 set scores to set up a winner-take-all match.

Redshirt junior Nicole Bantilan and sophomore Emmi Marks had the weight of the entire dual and perfect conference record on their shoulders after falling in their opening set to C of I's Brianna Artmann and Faith Faucher. Despite their unlikely odds, the duo dominated a 21-8 second set to hold the momentum entering the third and final period, where they kept their energy high and rode their gameplay to a 15-8 set score to secure the 3-2 match result deep in enemy territory.

No. 2 Corban 3, (RV) C of I 2

1. MCUNE, Haley/DEWS, Sydney (CI) def. Emma Bischoff/Cammie Masanda (CU) 21-17, 19-21, 15-5

2. Danae Stokes/Jessica McMillian (CU) def. SANDOVAL, Althea/GAUNA, Lauren (CI) 21-9, 21-17

3. Emmi Marks/Nicole Bantilan (CU) def. FAUCHER, Faith/ARTMANN, Brianna (CI) 16-21, 21-8, 15-8

4. MONTALBO, Liza/VANDENBERG, Emily (CI) def. Allyson Reid/Erin Scott (CU) 21-17, 21-10

5. Jordan Faircloth/Payton Bazant (CU) def. HODGE, Clair/VALAIKA, Greta (CI) 21-15, 23-21

An overnight stay in Caldwell separates the Warriors from back-to-back conference matchups back on C of I's campus, as they'll battle Northwest University (2-9, 0-5) at 9am PT before a massive 1pm PT rematch with RV Southern Oregon University (5-1, 4-1) for the top spot in the conference standings.

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