CCC CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
Raider Beach | Ashland, Ore. | April 9-10
Live Streams | Tickets | Tournament Central

THURDAY'S DUALS
Dual 1 | 10 a.m. – (2) Corban vs. (3) College of Idaho
Dual 2 | 12 p.m. – (1) Southern Oregon vs. (4) Bushnell
Dual 3 | 2 p.m. – Dual 1 Loser vs. Dual 2 Loser (loser eliminated)
Dual 4 | 4 p.m. – Dual 1 Winner vs. Dual 2 Winner
FRIDAY'S DUALS
Dual 5 | 10 a.m. – Dual 3 Winner vs. Dual 4 Loser (loser eliminated)
Dual 6 | 12 p.m. – Dual 4 Winner vs. Dual 5 Winner (championship round)
Dual 7 | 1 hour after Dual 6 conclusion (if necessary)

ASHLAND – The No. 2-ranked Southern Oregon University beach volleyball team has already made a little history, but a lot more is on the table as the 2026 postseason begins this week at Raider Beach.

By capturing their first Cascade Conference regular-season title, the Raiders (16-2 overall, 14-1 CCC) earned the right to host the four-team, double-elimination CCC Tournament. They'll open it at noon Thursday against No. 4-seeded Bushnell (8-12, 7-8); a win over the Beacons would put them in a 4 p.m. dual against the winner of the tournament opener between No. 2-seeded Corban (20-5, 13-2) and No. 3-seeded College of Idaho (7-8, 7-8), while a loss would put them in a 2 p.m. elimination contest.

The championship round starts at noon Friday. If the tournament is anything like the regular season, it could very well come down to a best-of-three series between SOU and Corban. The No. 3-ranked Warriors entered the year as back-to-back CCC regular season and tournament champions, having eliminated SOU in both the tournament final and the NAIA semifinals a season ago. They took this spring's first matchup between the teams, 3-2, before the Raiders immediately started their active 12-dual winning streak, which included back-to-back 4-1 defeats of Corban on March 27 and 28 in Ashland. Those victories ended the Raiders' eight-dual head-to-head losing streak against Corban – they went 0-6 in the 2025 series – and gave them a one-win edge in the standings.

POSTSEASON PICTURE: The tournament champion will automatically qualify for the eight-team NAIA Invitational, which is scheduled to take place April 23-25 in Mesa, Ariz. The Raiders, based on their No. 2 ranking, are likely to get in no matter how this week plays out with an at-large bid at worst. When they received an at-large bid last season to make their first-ever appearance, they were ranked No. 8 in the final NAIA coaches' poll. This year's final poll will be released next Monday, the same day the NAIA Invitational field is announced.

SOU PROBABLE LINEUP
1. Grace Gulbrandsen/Tessa Zimmermann (13-4 overall, 11-3 CCC)
2. Molly Grace/Kira Sandoval (12-3 overall, 12-1 CCC)
3. Maelle Garon/Andressa Ribeiro Soares (17-1 overall, 14-1 CCC)
4. Amanda Moffat/Kaitlyn Shilling (12-6 overall, 10-5 CCC)
5. Kendal Hadwick/Natalie Perez (17-1 overall, 15-0 CCC)

BRIEFLY:

• Over the last month, three different Raider duos were voted NAIA Pairs of the Week: No. 1 pair Grace Gulbrandsen and Tessa Zimmermann, No. 2 pair Molly Grace and Kira Sandoval, and No. 5 pair Kendal Hadwick and Natalie Perez. If not for voter fatigue, the Raiders had a fourth pair worthy of the honor in No. 3 Maelle Garon and Andressa Ribeiro Soares, who completed the regular season at 17-1 overall with a 12-match CCC winning streak.
• For the second time in three years, Natalie Perez was part of a No. 5 pair that went undefeated in conference play. She did it with Kendal Hadwick this season, two years after becoming an All-American by doing it with her sister, Natasha. Perez and Hadwick have won 32 of their last 35 sets played.
• As a team, the Raiders won 65 of 75 matches in conference play. Bushnell and Corban were the only teams to take at least two off of them, both doing so on March 6.
• The Raiders are 13-1 in home duals since the start of the 2024 season.