Ashland, Ore. – For just the third time in school history and first since 2017, the Bushnell volleyball team went on the road to face Southern Oregon University and came away victorious, knocking off the Raiders in four sets, 23-25, 25-12, 25-19, 26-24.
 
Trailing 24-21 in the fourth, the Beacons scored five straight points to end the match and avoid sending the contest to a fifth set. It was Bushnell's second straight win over an NAIA Top-25 ranked team after beating No. 12 College of Idaho last Saturday, and snapped a seven-game overall losing streak to Southern Oregon.
 
"Our word of the day was 'Persist'", said Head Coach Jason Corwin. "That was never more evident than the fourth set, when we trailed the whole way but fought back. I am really proud of our mindset throughout the match."
 
The Beacons (11-6, 5-2 CCC) hit a .236 clip in the match and owned a 74-53 advantage in points scored, held a 7-1 edge in aces, and out-blocked the Raiders 10-6. SOU (6-8, 3-4) earned a 52-49 margin in digs, and hit .164 with 24 unforced errors.
 
The Beacons were led on offense by senior Hailey Heider with a match-high 17 kills along with four blocks. Amyah Semau added 14 kills and Leah Agost posted ten, hitting .429.
 
Semau said, "Such a fun game of volleyball tonight! We truly held to our standard of play and came out with high energy. Even when we were down, we continued to play our game and I am super proud of this team."
 
"This was a huge win for our team," added Agost, "and we really gritted it out. We leaned on each other from start to finish and I am so happy with how we finished."
 
Other statistical notables for the visitors included a match-high six blocks from freshman Aliyah Malone, 15 digs for Kailey Shirley and a 23-assist/four service ace performance by Emma Fa'alogo.
 
It was Katie Belitz, however, that celebrated a birthday in style, leading all players with 24 assists to lead Bushnell to the win. She said, "This was such a great game for us. We showed what we are capable of and didn't back down when it got difficult. We were fearless and relentless and the score in the end reflected that."
 
Southern Oregon was led in defeat by Maya Watters with 16 kills while Tais Vega led all players with 17 digs.
 
UP NEXT: Bushnell will make the trek from Ashland to Klamath Falls where Oregon Tech (7-7, 1-6) awaits at 4:00 pm on Saturday. The Owls were the victims of a sweep at the hands of No. 3 Corban on Friday night.