KINGSVILLE, Texas – The final day of the Emerald Beach Invitational saw the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team earn two more victories, as the Javelinas dropped the University of New Orleans Privateers 4-1 and followed that up with a 3-2 nail-biter over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Sunday at the Javelina Beach Courts in Kingsville, Texas.
These two triumphs mean the Javelinas have already surpassed their win total from all of 2017 and their record stands at 11-5.
"I'm very pleased," said coach Tanya Allen. "I thought we did a good job and worked really hard. I saw a number of improvements on some of the things we'd been working on all week."
UNO vs. TAMUK
The first set in the No. 4 flight turned on a late run by senior Kyra Henderson (Carlsbad, Calif.) and junior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas), who scored 9 of the final 12 points after a 12-12 tie to take it, 21-16. After the Privateers evened things at one set apiece, Henderson and Hutchinson immediately seized the momentum with a 6-0 spurt to start the third and they also dodged a late comeback attempt for a 21-16, 17-21, 15-9 triumph. UNO evened things at 1-1 when Ally Carr and Rhyan Rand took the No. 5 match 21-18, 13-21, 15-12.
With the match tied, the Privateers and Javelinas locked horns in three tightly contested battles that determined the final outcome. Freshman Whitney Walker (Bellingham, Wash.) and sophomore Gabby Atchley (Concord, Calif.) at No. 1 and junior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) and freshman Macy Berg (San Antonio, Texas) in the No. 2 flight were forced to scratch and claw for every point, but they both won in sweeps. Walker and Atchley emerged with a 21-19, 21-17 victory. Brabham and Berg's fight against Veronica and Victoria Corcoran was an even match through most of both sets before TAMUK's tandem won the final two points in each for a final of 21-18, 23-21. The third flight ended up in a third set, but Kingsville's freshmen pairing, Erin Umbel (Helotes, Texas) and Tenley Housler (Bulverde, Texas), pulled it out, 21-11, 18-21, 15-10.
TAMCC vs. TAMUK
After taking down one Division I opponent, the Javelinas took on a second in an Islander squad that also refused to go quietly.
This time, Henderson and Hutchinson needed only two sets to clinch the victory, their sixth of the season as a pair, but both sets were hotly contest before Chloe Simon and Kayla Walker were sent packing, 21-19, 21-18. A win from their No. 5 team of Naomi Overstreet and Jenna Krenek drew Corpus Christi even as the second trio of matches began. Sophomores Loren Washington (Round Rock, Texas) and Kadi Shipman (Georgetown, Texas) came back to defeat Olivia Rook and Gabriella Johnston in the No. 6 slot, 16-21, 21-15, 15-11.
Brabham and Berg got the lead back for the Javelinas with a 21-17, 21-15 win out of the second flight, but the No. 1 and No. 3 matches went to a decisive third set in order to find a winner. Housler and Umbel were able to get a lead over Madi Fitzsimmons and Demi McInnis in the third spot and they never relinquished it in a 21-12, 19-21, 15-9 triumph. Their victory made Selina Marolf and Abigail Devido's win in the top match simply a cosmetic addendum to the final score.
The Javelinas and Islanders will see each other again on Friday for a match in Corpus Christi that will begin at 3:30 p.m. 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.
