The Southern Oregon University beach volleyball team picked up the program’s first win on the afternoon of its debut, sweeping Northwest (Wash.) after dropping the opener to Bushnell on Friday at the Corban Beach Courts.
SOU’s top pair of Madi Gray and Skyy Nihipali-Botelho was perfect on the day, getting the Raiders’ lone victory in their 4-1 loss to Bushnell. They defeated the Beacons’ Logan Kaneshiro and Makenna Northern in straight sets, 21-17 and 21-19, and followed up by prevailing in the tiebreaker set against Northwest’s Allie Flynn and Carlee Rowell, 21-14, 21-23, 15-11.
The Raiders’ No. 2 pair, Karina Oliveira and Taylor Jackson, and their No. 3, Kayla Neidigh and Savannah Schwindt, both earned straight-set wins against NU. Their No. 4 of Addison Weckerle and Kiya Jackson won a tiebreaker, and No. 5 pair AC Reyes and Robin Anderson accepted a forfeit.
“Getting an opportunity to get our feet in the sand in competition was so great for us,” SOU coach Paul Elliott said. “I believe we learned more today than in the last six weeks. The competition is very strong.”
It’ll get stronger at 10 a.m. Saturday when the Raider face top-ranked Corban. They’ll play two more best-of-five series against Northwest and Bushnell after that matchup.
BUSHNELL 4, SOUTHERN OREGON 1
1. Madi Gray/Skyy Nihipali-Botelho, SOU, def. Logan Kaneshiro/Makenna Northern, 21-17, 21-19
2. Madi Trueblood/Roslyn McLellan, BU, def. Taylor Jackson/Karina Oliveira, 7-21, 21-19, 15-11
3. Brooke Silvernail/Jadeya Hayes, BU, def. Kayla Neidigh/Savannah Schwindt, 21-10, 21-19
4. Laci Jespersen/Halle Neumann, BU, def. Addison Weckerle/Kiya Jackson, 21-12, 21-17
5. Abigail Nelson/Anessa Stotts, BU, def. AC Reyes/Robin Anderson, 21-5, 21-4
Order of finish: 4-2-5-3-1
SOUTHERN OREGON 5, NORTHWEST 0
1. Madi Gray/Skyy Nihipali-Botelho, SOU, def. Allie Flynn/Carlee Rowell, 21-14, 21-23, 15-11
2. Karina Oliveira/Taylor Jackson, SOU, def. Caitlyn James/Morgan Harter, 21-17, 21-13
3. Kayla Neidigh/Savannah Schwindt, SOU, def. Ellie Van Berkum/Kaitlyn Mickle, 21-9, 21-19
4. Addison Weckerle/Kiya Jackson, SOU, def. Delaney Sparks/Masa Spela Jarc, 13-21, 21-18, 15-8
5. AC Reyes/Robin Anderson, SOU, win by forfeit
Order of finish: 2-3-4-1-5
Content used with permission, compliments of SOU Sports
Photo by Corban Sports Info.
