SALEM, Ore. – The inaugural Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Beach Volleyball Tournament, presented by U.S. Bank, came to a close this afternoon atop the campus of Corban University, where the No. 2-ranked Warriors completed a perfect 4-0 run against some of the best teams on the west coast, clinching the conference tourney crown and automatic bid to the 2025 NAIA National Championships via a 3-1 dual decision over No. 7-ranked Southern Oregon University. Today's victory marks the twentieth overall for the Navy and Gold (20-1) on the season, along with their fifth win over the Raiders (16-9) in just a 36-day window.

"This was a big week of important matches, and all the teams in the conference tournament came prepared to compete," shared Corban head coach Dan Stephens shared shortly after his team secured their second-straight automatic qualifying bid for the national invitational. "We had to face Southern Oregon for a fifth time this season and no match was bigger than today's. SOU knows us extremely well, and not having any secrets or new twists meant we had to be good at what we normally do. This Warrior team fought through an aggressive onslaught of tough SOU pairs to get the championship title, and we are all so proud of them. This was the final steppingstone to the NAIA National Tournament, and we have a week of practices to get sharpened up for the top eight teams in the nation."

After Southern Oregon picked up a wild 3-1 victory this morning in the elimination match against No. 9-ranked College of Idaho, the Raiders fought back in the opening pairs after Corban jumped out to an early 1-0 pair lead. Junior Alexis Adebodun and freshman Gabi Engels swept SOU's Natalie Perez and Andressa Ribeiro-Soares via 21-11 and 21-18 set scores in the fours before Raiders' Grace Gulbrandsen and Linda Conceicao held off a fervent comeback bid by Warriors' sophomores Cammie Masanda and Danae Stokes in the twos, 21-17, 18-21, and 15-9, and head into the back half of the dual with a pair apiece.

Now a best 2-of-3 scenario for either squad, Corban looked to take the early edge after CCC Pair of the Year, senior Jessica McMillian and junior Emmi Marks, took the first set of the threes over SOU's Kira Sandoval and Lucretia Benolken 21-17, but the Raider pairing struck back in the second set with a 21-18 win to force a decisive third set.

Meanwhile, Southern Oregon's fifth pairing of Skyy Nihipali-Botelho and Kendal Hadwick soared to a sizeable lead in the opening set over Warriors' redshirt sophomore Erin Scott and freshman Rebecca Wilber with a 13-8 lead at the technical timeout, but Scott and Wilber fought back to take the lead and eventually the set, 21-19. Their comeback win in the first carried into the second set, as they cruised to a 21-8 win and provided the Warriors with their second pair towards the three they needed to clinch a conference championship.

With the top overall pairings of senior Megan Dennis and Emma Bischoff from Corban and Madi Gray and Tessa Zimmermann from SOU having just completed their extra-point first set that was taken by the Navy and Gold duo at 27-25, McMillian and Marks were in the dogfight they expected after Dennis and Bischoff saved them from only their third loss of the season by ending their bout one point shy of falling to Sandoval and Benolken for the second-straight matchup in yesterday's semifinal contest. Tied 10-10 in the third set, McMillian and Marks returned the favor and scored five of the final six points to lock up a 15-11 third set and clinch the CCC's first-ever tournament title on their home sand.

CCC Championship – No. 2 Corban 3, No. 7 SOU 1

1. Megan Dennis/Emma Bischoff (CRB) led Madi Gray/Tessa Zimmerman (SOU) 27-25, 2-5 (truncated)

2. Grace Gulbrandsen/Linda Conceicao (SOU) def. Cammie Masanda/Danae Stokes (CRB) 21-17, 18-21, 15-9

3. Emmi Marks/Jessica McMillian (CRB) def. Kira Sandoval/Lucretia Benolken (SOU) 21-17, 18-21, 15-11

4. Alexis Adebodun/Gabi Engels (CRB) def. Natalie Perez/Andressa Ribeiro So. (SOU) 21-11, 21-18

5. Rebecca Wilber/Erin Scott (CRB) def. Skyy Nihipali-Bo./Kendal Hadwick (SOU) 21-19, 21-8

Ext. Addison Weckerle/Vitoria Mattos (SOU) def. Sydney Sanford/Jordan Faircloth (CRB) 21-14, 21-17

Order of Finish: 4,6,2,5,3

With over a week before the start of the 2025 NAIA National Championships, the Warriors will play a single warmup dual on the road against the University of Portland on Friday, April 18th at 12pm on the newly completed Tom and Meg Names Family Foundation Beach Volleyball Courts.

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