Southern Oregon was the first No. 8 seed to appear in the semifinals in the four-year history of the NAIA Invitational. (Al Case / Ashland Daily)

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The best season yet for the Southern Oregon University beach volleyball team ended in the national semifinal round of the NAIA Invitational on Saturday with a 3-2 loss to Corban at the Greeneville Beach Complex.

The sixth meeting between the No. 2-ranked Warriors and No. 8 Raiders produced an eerily similar outcome to the first five: a down-to-the-wire finish that went Corban’s way.

The Raiders stormed out to a 2-0 lead through the first session after getting a straight-set victory from their 2-pair, Grace Gulbrandsen and Linda Conceicao, and a tiebreaker win from their 4-pair, Natalie Perez and Andressa Ribeiro Soares.

Corban’s 1- and 5-pairs tied up the team score in straight sets, leaving the 3-pairs to decide it. The Warriors’ Emmi Marks and Jessica McMillian, after winning 21-15 in the first set, were tied 19-all with SOU’s Kira Sandoval and Lucretia Benolken in the second. They avoided a tiebreaker by stealing the next two points on long rallies.

Corban went on to lose 3-0 in the championship to Ottawa (Ariz.), the team SOU defeated in pool play on Thursday.

The Raiders were the first No. 8 seed to appear in the semifinals in the four-year history of the Invitational. They finished the program’s third season with a 19-11 record.

The Raiders went 3-2 overall at the tournament, defeating the Nos. 1, 5 and 6 seeds.