'It means the world': Corban University's beach volleyball team wins inaugural NAIA title

Corban University's beach volleyball program comprises five defined pairs, and out of those 10 athletes, seven were competing in their first season with the team.

But the lack of collegiate beach volleyball experience didn't stop the team — led by Oregon nativesMakenna Campbell and Avari Ridgway — from winning the inaugural 2022 NAIA Women's Beach Volleyball National Invitational last weekend.

The No. 5-ranked Corban held off No. 1 Vanguard 3-2 in the championship match to claim the school's first-ever NAIA title in Panama City Beach, Florida, on April 23.

"It means the world," Corban's second-year head coach Diana Villalpando said. "That was my goal, and it feels great to accomplish that goal ... . This sounds really weird to say, but I'm proud of myself.

"It's amazing. But at the same time, I'm really grateful because that (title) would have never happened if the school didn't take a chance on the program. Or that would have never happened if Kim (McLain) didn't ask me to be her indoor (volleyball) assistant coach. It's a little surreal to know how everything started out, played out and to now see the end results."

Corban has finished twice as the NAIA runner-up in other sports, most recently in 2019 with decathlon runner Michael Schmidt; and the other in 2017, where the Warriors' softball team lost 4-1 to Oklahoma City University.

Corban, formerly Western Baptist, saw the school's first national title in the 1976-77 men's basketball team at the National Christian College Athletic Association Division II tournament.

As for Corban's beach volleyball team, it's had plenty of reasons to celebrate its storied second-year Warrior program: The team finished the season with a 22-7 overall record, including three victories over NCAA Division I University of Portland, a runner-up finish at the California Pacific Conference Championships and its historic national title.

A No. 1 pairing

Campbell, a senior and standout volleyball player at West Salem, and Ridgway, a junior and stellar volleyball player at McMinnville, have built reputable careers as indoor volleyball teammates since they arrived at Corban in 2018.

Despite little to no beach volleyball experience, they quickly proved why they were the No. 1 duo with a 19-5 overall record. In April, both were named All-Americans by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

"I don't think I have digested it fully," Campbell said on the team's title. "It was shocking honestly just being my first year out there. I've worked so hard my whole life just playing volleyball and then for it to come down to the final moment in my (college) career; and finish it off on such a high note is so special."

Corban was off to a bumpy start on the opening day of the NAIA Beach Invitational after the team posted a 4-1 loss to Vanguard followed by a 3-2 win over No. 4-ranked Webber International University in pool play.

On day two, Corban wasted no time and earned a pair of 3-2 victories over No. 3 Ottawa University Arizona in the first round and No. 2 Westcliff University in the semifinals.

Campbell and Ridgway, who initially lost to Vanguard, were the first pair to earn a victory over the Lions in the championship match.

"It means the world that I got to do it alongside Avery Ridgway," Campbell said. "She has been such an instrumental part of our success as a pair. Then going to the national tournament, every team there stepped up in clutch times and got a win. We became more of a team there. So being a part of that my last year, I'm so grateful for."

Corban's No. 2 duo sophomore Nicole Bantilan and freshman Maya Blake saw their only win, a three-set match, against Ottawa, while No. 4 duo junior Briana Ayala and freshman Jessica McMillian lost both of their matches to Vanguard.

Then came No. 3 sister duo junior Cameron Keeling and sophomore Kianna Keeling, who were the second pair to earn a victory over Vanguard in the championship match.

"We knew we had to be more aggressive," Kianna Keeling said. "Because we did lose before, we knew we had to change our calls and do opposites. So we would say 'hit line' but we would hit cross instead."

The Keeling sisters, originally from Laguna Beach, California, were recruited onto the Warrior roster for the 2022 season after having previously competed on the sand at Santa Monica College and indoors at Dana Hills High School.

Kianna, similar to her older sister Cameron, was a multi-sport athlete in high school ― competing in volleyball, softball and also for the Hermosa Beach Volleyball Club, where they got recruited.

Kianna originally planned to play indoor volleyball at California State University, Los Angeles, but ultimately chose Corban for its beach volleyball program and "different environment."

"I just fell in love with it," Kianna Keeling said on playing beach volleyball for the first time at Santa Monica College.

Calm and aggression on the sand

Corban's national title fate would lie in the hands of No. 5 pair sophomore Jolinn Daviscourt and freshman Megan Dennis.

Luckily for the Warriors, their efforts paid off in the end as Daviscourt and Dennis would win all but one of their matches ― that being a three-set loss to Webber. The pair would eventually go toe-to-toe with Vanguard, earning Corban its only win against the Lions in pool play.

The final match between Corban and Vanguard would bring in a new element as the Lions would play without one of its starters, Chloe Knudson.

"Our biggest thing was being calm and aggressive," Dennis said. "I often get very frazzled and nervous, so we would really take our time switching sides. We would high-five and kind of hold hands just to reset after every play.

"We are both five-foot-six and usually we're playing girls that are a lot taller. So it was important to be the aggressor and swing at balls even if they would go out."

In that final match on the sand, Daviscourt, a Stayton native, and Dennis would drop their first set before outlasting Vanguard's Cambria Fernandez and Emilee Hall for a thrilling 16-14 victory in the third set to clinch the title.

Dennis would be the deciding factor with a match point serve.

"We were able to get out of it through encouragement," Dennis said. "I remember we were down, and I was serving and Kianna told me, 'We believe in you, you can do this,' and it honestly made me want to cry because I just needed to do this for my team. Keep pushing for them."

Dennis, a Rio Rancho, New Mexico, native, started playing indoor, outdoor and club volleyball all in the same year during sixth grade.

But by the time she entered her senior year of high school, she said she was ready to quit volleyball.

"I got burnt out," Dennis added. "Then COVID had happened, and I thought I was done. But my mom kept saying 'keep going' and she really wanted me to move out of state and play. Honestly, I just listened to her and we found Corban.

"It's really crazy how I ended up at this random small school in Oregon and we end up winning a national championship. I think it's unbelievable. It was almost like God's plan to put me here."

If you build it, she will come

In spring 2018, Villalpando was at the right place at the right time in her career.

The Troutdale native and Portland State University graduate was serving in her first year as an assistant volleyball coach at Corban when an opportunity would soon present itself.

"Corban has been a place of opportunity for different sports since we are a smaller school," Villalpando said. "So I saw an opportunity to present a proposal to the school to add beach volleyball. I wrote the proposal, got all the figures for what it would cost to build the courts, and Kim (the volleyball head coach) was a really big part of that as well."

The proposal would then be presented to the vice president and president of the school, who essentially approved it.

"They said, 'If you can get 14 girls to enroll by fall, then we'll go in on the program.' So I had two months to recruit 14 girls."

In her first year, Villalpando said she contacted more that 3,000 student-athletes and ended up signing 15 to play beach volleyball ― but then the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Out of those 15 student-athletes, only four will have been with the program all four years of college.

Since then, Corban's beach volleyball program has blossomed to 29 on its 2022 roster, with some players coming from as far as Hawaii and Florida.

"A big part of my mission statement for starting this program was to create opportunity for female athletes to play college sports and get their degree," Villalpando said.

Villalpando excelled as a student-athlete at Portland State, where she competed as a defensive specialist for the Vikings, winning 83 matches in her four years and leaving the program as one of the winningest NCAA Division I players in school history.

She also played an important role in the school's three Big Sky regular-season championships and two Big Sky tournament titles from 2007-10.

Villalpando, who is half Mexican-half white, graduated from Portland State in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. During her time there was when she got her first taste of beach volleyball.

"I didn't get the opportunity to play beach (volleyball) in college because it just wasn't a thing," she said. "My head coach in college Michael (Seemann), who's still at Portland State, played beach. So a lot of us (indoor players) would stay over the summer, and that was when he introduced us to beach. We would just play in adult tournaments or pick-up games."

After competing for the Vikings, she served as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at NCAA Division III Lewis & Clark College, before returning to her alma mater as an assistant coach in 2016.

During that time, Villalpando would take a year off to get married to Daniel Leong and have their daughter, Karsyn.

She would eventually join the coaching staff of NCAA Division I Eastern Washington University, her last stop before joining the Corban coaching staff for the Warriors trip to the NAIA Final 16.

And the rest is history.

"Women's volleyball is dominated by male coaches," Villalpando said. "So I think it's a huge, huge step for women head coaches to get these accomplishments. It's also important for other female athletes to see that they can be successful."

Edith Noriega is a sports reporter. You may reach her at ENoriega@salem.gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Noriega_Edith.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Corban University's beach volleyball team win inaugural NAIA title