KINGSVILLE, Texas – Less than a week after capturing the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II National Championship, the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team is prepared to go to work one last time. They'll be hosting the Javelina Battle on the Beach, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday at the Javelina Beach Courts in Kingsville, Texas on a weekend that will include Senior Day for the club.
On each day, the Javs will play a pair of matches. They begin the tournament by taking on the St. Edwards Hilltoppers at 10 a.m. on Saturday, followed by a 3 p.m. meeting with the University of New Mexico. Sunday's schedule includes a 10 a.m. clash with Abilene Christian and a 3 p.m. tussle against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The weekend will also include Senior Day ceremonies for the squads two fourth-year players, Kyra Henderson (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Madeline Sims (Aztec, N.M.). Both student-athletes joined the program prior to its inaugural season in 2017, coming aboard as transfers, having already spent two years as teammates at Mira Costa Junior College.
"They're two really great people," said coach Tanya Allen. "They're always excited. They have great attitudes and they work really hard. I'm so appreciative of the fact that they joined our program because, two years ago, it was brand new and we didn't really have a baseline for anything. They committed here immediately and, since then, we've been on the rise. We owe a lot to them."
Over the course of those last two season's, no one has more wins than Henderson, who's been a part of 28 victories in the Blue and Gold to this point. As a junior, she tied for the team lead with 11 wins and she's picked up 17 more in her final season. Henderson's pairing with junior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) has produced 13 of those of triumphs. Among them is a come-from-behind effort against No. 15 Arizona and a two-set sweep of Eckerd College in the match for the national title.
"Since we decided that Kyra and Haley were going to be playing together," said Allen, "they've been able to get a consistent play. They got used to each other and the chemistry started to build. I think that's what we saw against Eckerd, [when] they just played lights out."
Sims has juggled multiple partners this year, but has still managed to post a double-digit win total that she'll be attempting to add to over the weekend. While the team was in Tavares, Sims and sophomore Loren Washington (Round Rock, Texas) teamed up to win three-out-of-four. That included a three-set win over the Tritons in which Sims and Washington collected the last three points for a 21-19, 12-21, 16-14 victory.
The Javelinas' opponents include a University of New Mexico squad that's spent much of the year battling with the country's top teams. They've put together a record of 6-10, but enter the competition having won four of their last five. Their most successful pairing has been than of Eastyn Baleto and Lauren Twitty, who own a record of 9-4.
On the final day of the tournament, Kingsville will battle two more teams from Division I, include their rivals, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders. This will be the sixth meeting between TAMUK and TAMCC, as well as the third one this season. So far in 2018, each side has defended their home turf, with the Javs dropping the Isles, 3-2 in Kingsville in March, only for Corpus to steal a 3-2 win five days later. In each of those contests, Selina Marolf and Abigail DeVido, playing in the No. 1 flight, proved to a be difficult foe, winning both times.
For complete coverage of the weekend's festivities, including live stats and recaps, visit Javelinaathletics.com. 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.
