BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU Beach Invitational began with a pair of losses for the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team, as they were downed by the No. 15 Arizona Wildcats and the Central Arkansas Beach Bears by identical 4-1 scores on Friday in Baton Rouge, La.
The Javelinas now have a record of 11-9 on the season.
TAMUK VS. No. 15 Arizona
What developed into a knock-down, drag-out fight between the Javelinas and the No. 15 team in the country started with Caroline Cordes and Jonny Baham collecting Arizona's first point in the fifth flight. They toppled sophomores Maelee Sowa (Sealy, Texas) and Loren Washington (Round Rock, Texas) 21-17, 21-15. Caroline Cordes and Jaclyn Inclan bested senior Madeline Sims (Aztec, N.M.) and sophomore Kadi Shipman (Georgetown, Texas) in the No. 6 contest, 21-11, 21-18.
The fourth flight, however, belonged to the Javelians, thanks to an outstanding effort from senior Kyra Henderson (Carlsbad, Calif.) and junior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas). After going down one set to none, they battled into extra points in the second before evening the match with a 28-26 triumph. The final set wouldn't come any easier but Henderson and Hutchinson persevered to earn a 13-21, 28-26, 16-14 triumph.
While Arizona won the top three matches to secure a victory, the Javelinas made the Wildcats work for each point. The No. 1 flight went to Natalie Anselmo and Olivia Macdonald over sophomore Gabby Atchley (Concord, Calif.) and freshman Whitney Walker (Bellingham, Wash.) 21-19, 21-10. Olivia Hallaran and Kacey Nady earned a narrow, 22-20, 21-19 win over junior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) and freshman Macy Berg (San Antonio, Texas). In the No. 3 bracket, freshmen Tenley Housler (Bulverde, Texas) and Erin Umbel (Helotes, Texas) pushed Lailey Devlin and Stephany Purdue to a third set, but fell 21-13, 19-21, 15-7.
TAMUK vs. Central Arkansas
The Beach Bears got off to a fast start by taking the first two matches out of the fourth and fifth flights. Mackenzie Dear and Shelby Holmes were victorious at No. 5 against Sowa and Washington, 21-15, 21-15. Henderson and Hutchinson saw an eight-match win streak come to an end when they suffered a 21-18, 21-19 loss at the hands of Kristine Hjembo and Colene Hamilton. The Beach Bears also took the exhibition match, 21-15, 21-13.
The No. 1 flight went to Haley Tippett and Megan Nash in 21-17, 21-11 fashion, as they outscored Atchley and Walker. The last two matches both went to a decisive third set. Brabham and Berg fell behind after Jessica Martinez and Aly Brinkley grabbed the first frame, 21-19, but coach Tanya Allen's No. 2 pairing bounced back and stole the last two sets, garnering a point for TAMUK, 19-21, 21-17, 15-8. Umbel and Housler took the opener in their contest, 21-17, but Delaney Driver and Mac Rogers ultimately earned the W, 17-21, 21-14, 15-11.
Saturday's schedule has two more matches for the Javelinas, who begin the day with an 11 a.m. clash with Alabama-Birmingham that is quickly followed by a meeting with No. 10 LSU at 1 p.m. To stay up-to-date with everything related to Javelina beach volleyball, you can also follow @JavelinaBeach on Twitter and Instagram and like the /JavelinaSports Facebook page.
