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Top-Ten Stories of 2025-2026: #5 - Beach Volleyball Reaches New Heights

Beach Volleyball Nick Askew, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications

Top-Ten Stories of 2025-2026: #5

With nine seniors striving to cap off their careers in style, the Bushnell Beach Volleyball program did just that, reaching new heights with a trip to the CCC tournament and their highest NAIA National Ranking ever. 

Bushnell ended the year with a bang, closing the season at No. 9 in the NAIA top-ten post-season coaches poll. The Beacons, who had made their way to the "Receiving Votes" category on nine separate occasions over the past five season, and ended the regular season at No. 10, moved up without benefit of another game, perhaps a strength-of-schedule bump as the NAIA National Invitational took place. 

Playing in the toughest conference in the NAIA, Bushnell finished the season with a 9-14 overall record, with ten of their losses coming against teams that qualified for the NAIA National Invitational, one against an NCAA Division I program (University of Portland) and one against an NCAA Division II powerhouse (Vanguard).

The Beacons went 7-8 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, home to national champion Southern Oregon University as well as perennial power Corban University. The Beacons finished tied for third-place in the CCC and earned a third-place finish at the CCC tournament. 

Among the bigger wins of the season, Bushnell split with NCAA Division I University of Portland on March 9, winning the second match of the day, 4-1. It was the Beacons second-ever win against the Pilots. The tone was set during the opening 3-2 loss, which should have been a 4-1 result had it not been for the heroics of No. 5 pair Haley Engelbrecht and Kailey Shirley. Portland had already locked up the win and Engelbrecht/Shirley trailed 14-8 in the third set of their match when they stormed back, scoring eight straight points to claim the win. 

That victory propelled them to a match-clinching performance in the second contest as Bushnell swept wins at the No. 2 and No. 4 pairs before a sweep for Engelbrecht and Shirley sealed the win. Also displaying Bushnell's signature resiliency was the No. 2 pair of Jazmyn Wilcox and Olivia Kelzenberg. The duo was sent packing in two sets in the opening match, only to turn around and set the tone for the Beacons with a 2-0 win of their own in the second match.

With SOU and Corban pulling away in the CCC as they battled for first and second place, the Beacons found themselves in a season-long dogfight with The College of Idaho as they wrestled for control of third-place. The conference slate opened up in Salem with two straight against the Yotes. The Beacons set the tone in the first match, sweeping the then-No. 9-ranked squad from Caldwell, 5-0. Four of the five pairs went to three sets in the hard-fought win, which was sealed by the No. 3 pair of Carly Hanna and Monet Panther as they rallied from a first-set loss to claim the next two including a 15-7 win in the tiebreaker. 

The Yotes would even the score the next morning, taking a 3-2 win, and earned the season series on March 21 with a 3-2 victory at home. That advantage in the head-to-head series proved to be massive for the C of I, who would go on to be upset by unranked Northwest University on April 3, dropping into a tie for third-place with the Beacons in the conference standings. 

The head-to-head tiebreak gave the Yotes the No. 3 seed for the CCC tournament, relegating Bushnell to the No. 4 seed. Each squad went on to drop their tournament openers; Bushnell falling to SOU and College of Idaho losing to Corban. This set up an elimination game between the rivals later that same day. 

The result was a big-time 3-2 win for Bushnell, knocking out the Yotes with just their second-ever postseason victory. It was a long afternoon for the Beacons, who endured a 45-minute lightning delay and a 2-1 deficit, climbing back with two late wins for the victory. The match started off with a rare loss for Sydney Myhre and Laci Petersen in the No. 4 pair. The No. 2 pair of Jazmin Wilcox and Olivia Kelzenberg answered right back with a victory. Facing off for the first time against Faith Faucher and Greta Valaika, who had spent most of the season as the Yotes' No. 1 pair, Wilcox and Kelzenberg bounced them in straight sets, 21-17, 24-22 to tie up the match.

The second flight began with a tough loss at the No. 1's with Kate Palelek and Hailey Heider falling to their opponent, giving the C of I a lead.

Shortly after the 1's completed their match, the skies opened and a 45-minute lightning delay ensued. At the time of the delay, Bushnell's 5's had won their first set while the 3's had lost theirs, with the Yotes knocking on the door of a Beacon elimination.
 
When play resumed, the 5's closed out in straight sets with Haley Engelbrecht and Isabella Jacobson claiming the victory, 21-11, 21-16, leaving the match tied at 2-2 with the No. 3 pairs set to decide it.
 
With the entirety of both rosters surrounding the court providing raucous support, Carly Hanna and Monet Panther were up to the task, rallying from a 21-19 loss in set one to claim the next two, 21-17 and 15-13 to seal the emotional victory for the No. 4 seeded Beacons.

The season would end the next morning in another elimination-game as Bushnell was bested by No. 3-ranked Corban, 3-0. The Beacons ended the regular season ranked No. 10 in the country, breaking into the top-ten for the first time ever. The squad would end up sitting just two spots off of the bubble for an at-large bid to the NAIA national invitational. 

A remarkable season ended with some remarkable accolades for the Beacons, including a well-deserved CCC Coach of the Year award for fifth-year boss Kim Elgarico. Earning All-CCC Pair honors were seniors Laci Jespersen and Sydney Myhre. Bushnell's most successful duo in school history ended their final campaign with a 14-9 record. Not only did they earn the most wins in a season in program history, but their winning percentage of .609 was also an all-time best. Jespersen finished her career as Bushnell's all-time leader for wins with 43, as Myhre was close behind in second place with 34. The duo had been paired together for three seasons and were also selected to the All-CCC team as sophomores.

Top-Ten Stories of 2025-2026
#10 - Men's Basketball Shocks SOU in CCC Quarterfinals
#9 - Diamond Sluggers Come in Clutch
#8 - Putting the "Student" in Student-Athlete
#7 - Record Breaking Season for Track & Field
#6 - Women's Soccer Sets Wins Record
#5 - Beach Volleyball Reaches New Heights
#4 - July 8
#3 - July 10
#2 - July 13
#1 - July 15


 
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Players Mentioned

Haley Engelbrecht

#9 Haley Engelbrecht

5' 8"
Senior
Laci Jespersen

#3 Laci Jespersen

5' 6"
Senior
Olivia Kelzenberg

#13 Olivia Kelzenberg

5' 11"
Senior
Sydney Myhre

#1 Sydney Myhre

5' 6"
Senior
Kate Palelek

#6 Kate Palelek

5' 3"
Senior
Monet Panther

#15 Monet Panther

5' 8"
Senior
Jazmyn Wilcox

#8 Jazmyn Wilcox

5' 3"
Sophomore
Carly Hanna

#11 Carly Hanna

6' 1"
Junior
Isabella Jacobson

#10 Isabella Jacobson

5' 9"
Freshman
Hailey Heider

#2 Hailey Heider

5' 11"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Haley Engelbrecht

#9 Haley Engelbrecht

5' 8"
Senior
Laci Jespersen

#3 Laci Jespersen

5' 6"
Senior
Olivia Kelzenberg

#13 Olivia Kelzenberg

5' 11"
Senior
Sydney Myhre

#1 Sydney Myhre

5' 6"
Senior
Kate Palelek

#6 Kate Palelek

5' 3"
Senior
Monet Panther

#15 Monet Panther

5' 8"
Senior
Jazmyn Wilcox

#8 Jazmyn Wilcox

5' 3"
Sophomore
Carly Hanna

#11 Carly Hanna

6' 1"
Junior
Isabella Jacobson

#10 Isabella Jacobson

5' 9"
Freshman
Hailey Heider

#2 Hailey Heider

5' 11"
Senior