KINGSVILLE, Texas – Year two for the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team begins with a trip to Fort Worth for four matches in two days at the Horned Frog Challenge, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday at the TCU Beach Volleyball Courts.
The Javelinas start off with two contests on Saturday, first against the No. 13 Texas Christian University Horned Frogs at 12:30 p.m., followed by a 4:30 p.m. matchup against Houston Baptist. Day two in the Metroplex begins bright and early with a 9 a.m. battle versus Florida International and the event concludes for TAMUK when they play the University of Louisiana-Monroe at 3 p.m.
The program's first year of collegiate competition ended with a record of 10-17 and they proved to be a tough opponent on their home court, posting a record of 8-2 in Kingsville. This year's edition includes eight student-athletes who will be spending their first seasons in the Blue and Gold, six of whom are freshman.
Among Kingsville's seven returners, Haley Hutchinson posted the best overall record at 11-12. Hutchinson spent her sophomore season moving between the No. 4 and 5 spots and was often teamed with fellow returner Maelee Sowa. The two combined to produce TAMUK's best mark as a pair at 7-5. Madison Brabham was part of a tandem that put together a five-match win streak last season from the No. 3 flight, but she will be partnering with a different teammate in 2018 after the graduation of Morgan Broussard. Kyra Henderson is the only Javelina back in the Blue and Gold who spent time in the top spot for Kingsville a year ago, working with Lexi Wick to produce an 8-8 record in the No. 1 discipline, but Henderson will also have a new playing partner this season.
TCU has come a long way from the program's humble beginnings in 2015, when the Horned Frogs went 0-11 and were shutout in every match but one. In 2017, the Horned Frogs were one of strongest squads in the nation. They put together a record of 18-8 and that mark included six wins over teams ranked in this year's American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll. Last year's edition of the Horned Frogs included the tandem of Amy Neal and Jaelyn Greene, who were invited to play in the 2017 USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships at season's end. While Neal graduated, Greene has returned for her junior season.
The Houston Baptist Huskies are a familiar foe for TAMUK. The teams met three times last season and the Hoggies will be attempting to turn the tables on an HBU squad that beat them thrice during Kingsville's first season, but coach Trent Herman will be bringing a very different team to Fort Worth to start 2018. Only six holdovers remain from a year ago and Herman brought in five freshmen to fill out his roster, all of whom will be on the court for the first time this weekend.
The Florida International University Panthers will be the top-ranked squad in Fort Worth after they were placed 11th in the AVCA's preseason poll. They are coming off a 2017 campaign that included a trip to the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Beach Volleyball Championships, where they picked up wins over Tulane, UNC-Wilmington and No. 7 LSU before falling in the tournament championships to Florida State. Their top team from a year ago, Margherita Bianchin and Federica Frasca, who posted a record of 20-5, are both back for another year in the sand.
The fourth and final Division I opponent for the Javelinas at the Horned Frog Challenge is the University of Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks are embarking on their sixth season of beach volleyball and they have also run into the Blue and Gold before, as the Javelinas and Warhawks squared off twice last year. The 19 wins ULM totaled in 2017 were the most in school history and they put together three streaks of five or more wins in-a-row. This year, coach Russ Friedland is tasked with incorporating four new players into the fold.
At the end of each day of competition in Fort Worth, Javelinaathletics.com is where you can find a complete recap. To stay up-to-date with everything related to Javelina beach volleyball, visit Javelinaathletics.com, follow @JavelinaBeach on Twitter and @JavelinaBeach on Instagram and like the /JavelinaSports Facebook page.
