KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team used the first day of their final home tournament, the Javelina Battle on the Beach, to pick up pair of wins, drilling the St. Edward's Hilltoppers, 5-0, and downing the University of New Mexico Lobos, 3-2, at the Javelina Beach Courts on Saturday in Kingsville, Texas.
For the Javs, their win over UNM marks the fifth time this season they've bested a Division I opponent and TAMUK's overall record now stands at 18-10.
St. Edward's vs. TAMUK
The Javelinas had no trouble with the Hilltoppers, earning their 10th sweep of the season.
Senior Kyra Henderson (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Junior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) wasted no time putting their team in front with an 21-13, 21-5 win from the fourth flight. A victory at No. 5 proved more elusive, as the match headed to a third set, but senior Madeline Sims (Aztec, N.M.) and sophomore Loren Washington (Round Rock, Texas) found a rhythm in the final frame to secure a final of 21-11, 20-22, 15-7. Freshman Shelby Tate (New Braunfels, Texas) and sophomore Kadi Shipman (Georgetown, Texas) captured the sixth match, 21-17, 21-12.
The second flight was a breeze for freshman Macy Berg (San Antonio, Texas) and junior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas), who took it in short order, 21-5, 21-6. In the No. 1 spot, sophomore Gabby Atchley (Concord, Calif.) and freshman Whitney Walker (Bellingham, Wash.) fought to a 21-13, 21-6 triumph and freshmen Tenley Housler (Bulverde, Texas) and Erin Umbel (Helotes, Texas) upped their record to 20-7 by way of a 21-7, 21-14 W.
TAMUK vs. New Mexico
In the second match of the day for both teams, the Javelinas rode the momentum of an early lead provided by their fourth and fifth tandems to a narrow victory.
Nothing came easy against the Lobos, starting with the first two competitions. After nabbing the opening set, 21-16, Washington and Sims fell behind, 14-7, in the second before rallying back. They were able to tie things at 18 before stealing the set and the match, 23-21.
Henderson and Hutchinson twice were pushed to extra points, but they came out ahead each time. Their 23-21, 22-20 win put the Javs up by two. TAMUK's No. 3's then secured the triumph. Housler and Umbel overwhelmed their opponents by scores of 21-8 and 21-12 and Tanya Allen's team had its second victory of the day.
One more day of competition remains for the 2018 AVCA National Champions. They'll spend Sunday battling Abilene Christian at 10 a.m. and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 3 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.
