BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – The Bushnell University beach volleyball program put another notch on their belt on Saturday afternoon, closing out the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season with a 3-2 victory over Southern Oregon University at the Corban Beach Courts.
 
Bushnell (6-16, 4-8) snapped a four-match losing streak and beat the Raiders (10-3, 9-3) for the first time in three tries this season and will head into the NAIA West Regional Tournament next weekend with some momentum.
 
The Beacons entered their only match of the day with a reinvigorated style of play, pushing SOU to the max with three of the five pairs playing to a tie-breaker third set.
 
The teams split the first two matches of the contest with SOU taking a 20-22, 21-17, 15-8 win over Brooke Silvernail and Anessa Stotts in the No. 2 pair before the Beacons claimed a 21-13, 11-21, 15-13 victory as the No. 4 pair of Sydney Myhre (pictured) and Laci Jespersen withstood a late charge.
 
The Raiders jumped ahead with a 21-17, 21-12 win at the No. 5 pair, but the Beacons rallied with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to clinch the victory. After Halle Neumann and Kate Palelek took down the SOU's top pair 21-18, 21-8, it all came down to the threes. Courtney Isom and Jadeya Hayes fell behind early but rallied for a 18-21, 21-15, 15-12 win to seal the match.
 
After the match, Neumann said, "I am so proud of the energy and fight that our team brought to the court today. We never let up despite some rough weather and the long weekend. This win was a great way to wrap up our conference matches and we are excited to bring this momentum to Chula Vista next week."
 
"There has been so much growth from all of our pairs throughout the season," added Palelek. "Today every pair battled hard and we were able to secure a team win. I am so proud of our team for fighting hard to get the win."
 
Bushnell locked in the CCC's No. 4 seed for the NAIA West tourney, which begins on Thursday. The Beacons open up the event against the Cal-Pac's top seed in Westcliff (Calif.) and will also take on Park-Gilbert and Southern Oregon in pool play, two teams who the Bushnell has already knocked off this season.
 
Before that, however, Bushnell is slated for one more non-conference tune up as they travel across town to Amazon Park to face the University of Oregon on Tuesday at 2:00 pm.