EUGENE, Ore.  –  Rallying from a five-point deficit and fighting off four match points, the Bushnell volleyball team claimed victory on Saturday in their longest match in history, defeating The College of Idaho, 22-25, 25-21, 10-25, 25-22, 20-18.
 
Bushnell improved to 9-6 on the season and 4-3 in the CCC with all three losses coming against teams ranked in the NAIA top-ten. The Yotes, who are receiving votes in the national poll, fall to 7-7, 3-3 in conference.
 
The Yotes finished the night hitting .250 while holding the Beacons to a .172 attack, fueled in part thanks to ten blocks and a 94-82 advantage in digs on a night that featured numerous extended rallies.
 
Head Coach Jason Corwin said, "This was a fantastic win for this team. We have been working so hard and are so proud of their grit and resiliency to come back multiple times to pull out this win. We tries some different things tonight and the team made it work!"
 

Hailey Heider had a huge role to play on Saturday as she suited up as the Libero for the first time in her career. The coaching decision paid huge dividends as the junior collected a match-high 27 digs and earned eight of Bushnell's season-high 16 service aces, the team's highest total in three years.
 
Heider said, "We played scrappy tonight and our aggressive service got them out of system which gave us the upper hand. The team really came out today with a fire and a desire to win that couldn't have been stopped no matter who was across the net."
 
The epic fifth set will go down as the most dramatic, and longest in program history, besting a 19-17 victory for the Beacons back in 2012. Amyah Semau set the tone early for the Bushnell, putting down three straight service aces to give the home team a 3-0 lead and force the Yotes to call their first timeout. The pause was effective, however, as C of I rallied to score the next seven points with Haley McUne taking charge to the tune of three kills and a block assist during the momentum swing.
 
The team traded points before the Yotes emerged with an 11-6 lead, seeming to be in control. Back-to-back kills from Leah Agost and Makenna Mosher, followed by back-to-back attack errors from the visitors and the Beacons were back to within one, 11-10.
 
C of I maintained the lead and were ahead 14-12, looking to end the match, but a kill from Matty Ladd and another Yote attack error tied things up, setting up a back-and-forth battle for the ages. The Beacons fought off two more set points and finally claimed one of their own at 17-16 as Ariana Guerra secured her third ace of the night.
 
The Yotes fought off another Beacon match-point with a kill by Jessica Stires to make it 18-18 and setting up the final stand. Bushnell setter Katie Belitz surprised everyone in the gym with a perfectly timed and perfectly placed dump set for a kill and Semau followed with her 11th kill of the night to end the festivities.
 
Bushnell was led offensively on Saturday by Guerra and Agost, posting 15 kills apiece with Agost hitting .361. Semau added 11 kills, 17 digs and three aces while Ladd added another nine kills. The Bushnell setters combined for 45 assists with Elijah Sanders leading the way and posting a double-double with 22 assists and ten digs.
 
The College of Idaho had four players post at least 11 kills and had six different players take 15 swings or more in a well-rounded offensive effort. McUne and Alexa Wheeler led the team with 12 kills apiece and Wheeler added seven blocks. Both setters for the Yotes posted double-doubles, led by 26 assists and 11 digs from Capri Salmon, while Savannah Hutchins collected 21 assists, 11 digs and a team-high four service aces. Althea Sandoval led the team with 24 digs while McUne added 22.
 
Bushnell will stay home next weekend and are set to continue Cascade Collegiate Conference action against Walla Walla University on Friday at 2:00 pm.