ASHLAND, Ore.  – One of the top blocking teams in the country lived up to their billing on Friday night as Southern Oregon University knocked off Bushnell in four sets, 25-9, 21-25, 25-16, 29-27, in a battle for second-place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
 
The Raiders (14-2, 7-1 CCC), currently ranked No. 17 in the NAIA national coaches poll, collected 12 blocks in the match and hit .275 in what was a close battle for most of the night. The Beacons (8-4, 6-2) had overcome a disastrous opening set to make a match of it, and even held a set-point at 24-23 in the decisive fourth set before succumbing.
 
Bushnell was led in the loss by Matty Ladd, earning 11 kills with a pair of blocks. Halle Neumann added ten kills of her own and Amyah Semau chipped in nine along with a team-high 14 digs. . Bushnell collected eight blocks of their own on Friday with Brooklyn Dechent getting a piece of a career-high seven blocks.
 
Southern Oregon was led by Marin Mackey with 17 kills and Hannah Stadstad, collecting 16.
 
The Beacons will look to rebound on Saturday evening as they head to Klamath Falls to take on Oregon Tech (6-9, 4-4). The Owls on Friday became the first CCC team this season to take No. 4 Corban University to five sets.