COMPLETE ALL-CCC AWARDS

ASHLAND – Head coach Paul Elliott and seven members of the Southern Oregon University beach volleyball team earned All-Cascade Conference awards Sunday after leading the Raiders to their first CCC regular-season and tournament championships.

SOU had the co-Coach of the Year in Elliott, the co-Defender of the Year in Grace Gulbrandsen, the Newcomer of the Year in Molly Grace, and the co-Freshman of the Year in Maelle Garon.

Garon and Andressa Ribeiro Soares, SOU's No. 3 pair, were among six All-CCC duos along with No. 5 pair Kendal Hadwick and Natalie Perez. Grace and Kira Sandoval, the Raiders' No. 2 pair, received honorable mention.

Collectively, they've helped the Raiders to 15 consecutive dual victories, a 19-2 record and a No. 2 national ranking entering next week's NAIA Invitational. The eight-team tournament field will be announced Monday and play begins April 23 in Mesa, Ariz.

Elliott shared top coaching honors with Bushnell's Kim Elgarico. Under his leadership, the Raiders have made significant progress in each of the team's four seasons. They went from three wins in their first year to a 12-5 record in their second before reaching the national semifinals in 2025. This year, their .905 winning percentage is the best in the country.

Gulbrandsen, in her first season as part of a top pairing, has gone 13-6 overall with fellow junior Tessa Zimmermann. Both were All-CCC selections a year ago.

Garon and senior Andressa Ribeiro Soares own SOU's top record at 20-1 overall and have won 15 matches in a row after a perfect showing in the CCC Tournament. Hadwick and Perez were unbeaten in conference regular-season play at 15-0, while Grace and Sandoval stand at 15-3 overall after also going unbeaten in the tournament.

Corban's Emma Bischoff and Emmi Marks were voted the Pair of the Year as the Warriors' No. 1 duo. Bischoff was also the Attacker of the Year and Marks the co-Defender of the Year with Gulbrandsen.