ASHLAND – Madi Gray received her third consecutive Defender of the Year award and was among four Southern Oregon University beach volleyball players named to the All-Cascade Conference team when the CCC awards list was released Wednesday.

The honors came in on the eve of the inaugural CCC Tournament, which the No. 7-ranked Raiders open at 10 a.m. Thursday against No. 9 College of Idaho in Salem.

Gray, a senior from Chico, Calif., and her No. 1-pair partner, Tessa Zimmermann, earned a spot on the All-CCC team after going 12-9 overall and 10-5 in conference matches during the regular season. Gray and Zimmermann, a sophomore from Albany, have accumulated 22 wins together since forming SOU's top pair last season.

The Raiders' other All-CCC pair was their No. 2 duo, Linda Conceicao and Grace Gulbrandsen. Conceicao, a senior from Brazil, and Gulbrandsen, a sophomore from Folsom, Calif., own a 12-5 record and went 11-4 in conference matches.

A total of six CCC pairs were recognized. Corban's Jessica McMillian and Emmi Marks, who are 16-2 in the Warriors' No. 3 slot, were voted the Pair of the Year.

The Raiders are 14-7 entering postseason play. They earned the conference's No. 2 seed with a 12-3 record – losing only to Corban, the undefeated champion – and will attempt to claim an automatic bid in the NAIA Invitational by winning the double-elimination CCC Tournament.

The schedule is below:

THURSDAY'S DUALS
Dual 1 – (2) Southern Oregon vs. (3) College of Idaho, 10 a.m.
Dual 2 – (1) Corban vs. (4) Northwest (Wash.), 12 p.m.
Dual 3 – Loser of Dual 1 vs. Loser of Dual 2 (loser eliminated), 2 p.m.
Dual 4 – Winner of Dual 1 vs. Winner of Dual 2, 4 p.m.

FRIDAY'S DUALS
Dual 5 – Winner of Dual 3 vs. Loser of Dual 4 (loser eliminated), 10 a.m.
Dual 6 – Winner of Dual 4 vs. Winner of Dual 5 (final round), 12 p.m.
Dual 7 – If necessary, 1 hour after Dual 6