EUGENE, Ore. – The Bushnell volleyball team took a set on Saturday and kept things tight from start to finish, falling to No. 5 Southern Oregon University in Cascade Collegiate Conference action, 26-28, 25-22, 25-20, 25-18.
 
The Beacons (16-9, 11-6 CCC), currently receiving votes in the NAIA national coaches poll, put together another strong result against one of the best teams in the country, and did so with a different lineup as two rotation regulars were missing due to injury.
 
Nonetheless, Bushnell claimed a dramatic win the first set, held multiple leads in the second and never relented in their defeat. "I absolutely loved our energy and fight tonight," said Head Coach Jason Corwin. "We are close to truly understanding and implementing what we are capable of doing set-to-set. We may be frustrated by the outcome, but it is only driving us to get better and overcome this obstacle."
 
Southern Oregon (21-2, 15-2) maintained their half-game lead on first-place in the CCC with the victory, hitting .279 as they out-blocked the Beacons 13-7. Megan Perry continued what she has done to every opponent this year, hitting .517 with a team-best 16 kills along with six blocks. Marin Mackey posted 11 kills and 15 digs while Linda Conceicao scored 17 points with ten kills and seven blocks. Annie Hite led the team with 25 assists and three aces while Kayla Neidigh earned a match-high 20 digs in the win.
 
The Beacon offense was led by a double-double from Hailey Heider, securing a match-high 18 kills along with ten digs and two aces. Amyah Semau had another strong performance, hitting a team-high .256 with 15 kills and a team-best 15 digs. Matty Ladd added 12 kills and tied with Brooklynn Dechent with a team-high four blocks.
 
Seeing the most significant playing time of her young career, freshman Peyton Arland added seven kills, while Katie Belitz posted a match-high 31 assists.
 
Despite the loss, Bushnell was able to maintain their 1 ½-game lead over The College of Idaho for fourth-place in the CCC, as the No. 22 Yotes were upset on the road, losing to Northwest University in five sets.
 
After a string of three straight NAIA Top-25 opponents, the Beacons will have another tough meeting on Saturday, facing Oregon Tech (14-11, 7-10) who took a set off of No. 9 Corban in a loss on Friday.
 
"We have another opportunity tomorrow night to compete against another solid opponent in our very tough conference," said Corwin. "There is no night off in the CCC and we love it!"