CHULA VISTA, Calif. – The 2024 NAIA West Regional Qualifier tournament didn't start out the way the Beacons would have liked on Thursday, dropping a pair of duals in pool play and getting eliminated from bracket contention.
Bushnell (6-19) posted a heart-wrenching 3-2 defeat at the hands of No. 9-ranked Westcliff University (Calif.) before falling to familiar foe Southern Oregon, 4-1.
Westcliff University 3, Bushnell University 2
The Beacons came extremely close to taking down the top seed in their pool on Thursday morning before falling 3-2. The teams opened up the first session with a split as the No. 2 pair of
Brooke Silvernail and
Anessa Stotts got things rolling with a 21-18, 21-19 win.
2024 CCC Attacker of the Year
Halle Neumann (pictured) and
Kate Palelek also picked up a win at the No. 1 pair, 21-19 and 21-17 while the No. 5's lost, setting up the winner-take all showdown at the No. 3's. After dropping their first set,
Jadeya Hayes and
Courtney Isom were on the verge of defeat in the second, fending off multiple match-points before taking a dramatic 26-24 win. After exhausting as much energy as it took to battle back, the pair were left with little in the tank, falling in the third set.
Southern Oregon 4, Bushnell University 1
The First-Team All-Conference duo of
Laci Jespersen and
Sydney Myhre pulled out a three-set win over the Raider's honorable-mention duo of Annie Hite and Skyy Botelho at the No. 4 spot, 16-21, 22-20, 15-13. Unfortunately for the Beacons it would be the only win as SOU took the other four to clinch a spot in the tournament semifinals as one of the top-two teams in the pool, joining Westcliff.
The Beacons will have one more match for the 2024 season, closing things out at 11:00 am on Friday against Park University Gilbert. The Buccaneers, with whom Bushnell split a pair of duals during a non-conference trip to Arizona in February, also fell to Westcliff and Southern Oregon on Thursday.
