KINGSVILLE, Texas – The final road trip of the 2018 season for the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team brings them to Tavares, Fla., the site of the 2018 American Volleyball Coaches Association Small College Beach Championships, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday at the Hickory Point Beach Sand Volleyball Complex.
The Javelinas will be entering this two-day tournament as the No. 1 seed in the green pool, a group that includes the University of Tampa, which is ranked second, Lincoln Memorial University at No. 3 and the No. 4 squad, Florida Southern. Opposite these teams in the yellow pool will be Eckerd College, who earned the top slot in a trio that also includes Spring Hill College and St. Leo University.
Coach Tanya Allen and her student-athletes earned their ranking by crafting a record of 12-10 that includes two wins over teams receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches poll and four victories against Division I competition. The most recent notch in the win column for TAMUK came at the expense of the University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers, a team that had upset No. 8 South Carolina less than a week before falling to the Javelinas.
Against UAB, it was Kingsville's No. 2, 3 and 4 tandems that paved the way for the victory, as they each came out on top. Those three pairings have been the most consistent teams for the Javs in 2018 and they all own winning records. Freshmen Tenley Housler (Bulverde, Texas) and Erin Umbel (Helotes, Texas)currently own a record of 15-7 out of the No. 3 slot and that record includes a stretch during which they won 13 out of 14.
In the fourth flight, senior Kyra Henderson (Carlsbad, Calif.) and junior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) have lost consecutive matches only once this season and they enter Saturday having won eight of their last 10. Henderson and Hutchinson also earned a victory against No. 15 Arizona when the team was in Baton Rouge for the LSU Beach Tournament. The second spot has been the property of junior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) and freshman Macy Berg (San Antonio, Texas) all season and they've compiled a mark of 13-9 from that spot that's included wins over UAB, Central Arkansas and Mercer University.
The Javs begin the festivities by taking on the LMU Railsplitters. Lincoln Memorial earned the third spot in the green pool by putting together a record of 5-7 in 2018. They started the season 4-2 but five losses in their last six matches, including two to Eckerd and one to Tampa, have left them with a losing record to this point. The No. 1 flight is where the 'Splitters have had the most success, led by the pairing of Abby Cash and Lindsey Nartker, who own a record of 6-5.
TAMUK's second contest will be a rematch with the Florida Southern Mocs, a team the Javelinas trounced, 5-0, at the Stetson tournament in March. Coach Hyrum Keime's team enters the small college beach championships with a record of 4-13. Sydney Marshall and Makena Wilson have formed the Mocs most effective team, posting a record of 7-7 and they've also won their last two matches.
Among the other schools scheduled to be competing in Tavares, Eckerd has had the most success in 2018. The Tritons stand at 13-5, with one of their wins coming at Kingsville's expense in the form of a 4-1 final at the Stetson tournament in March. Four of their five losses this season have come against ranked foes. The pairing of Paula Hoffman and Kaitlyn Sibson have put together a near-spotless record of 17-1 and they're undefeated in 13 tries in the No. 1 flight.
The Tampa Spartans, who have also faced the Javelinas once this season, suffering a 4-1 defeat are 9-8 on the season and have won three of their last four. Spring Hill enters the weekend at 8-6 while St. Leo owns a record o 3-7.
This two-day event will begin on Saturday with pool play, as each school will compete in two matches against other programs in their group. The results of the pool play, including overall record and plus/minus points, will determine the seeding for bracket play, which will take place on Sunday. The top seed in the bracket will receive a first-round bye.
Full results and a complete recap of every Javelina match will be posted on Javelinaathletics.com following the conclusion of each day of competition in Tavares. 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.
