TAVARES, Fla. – On the first day of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Small College Beach Championships, the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team cruised to a pair of 5-0 sweeps, first dropping the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters, then routing the Florida Southern Mocs on Saturday afternoon at the Hickory Point Beach Sand Volleyball Complex in Tavares, Fla.
By trouncing both of their opponents in pool play, the Javelinas earned a first-round bye in the championship bracket. Bracket play began on Saturday evening, but the Javs will not have their first match until Sunday morning. They are scheduled to play Spring Hill College at 10 a.m in the semifinals.
TAMUK vs. LMU
The Railsplitters were a worthy opponent in Kingsville's first match of the tournament, but the Javelinas showed grit when they had to and collected the win. In the fifth flight, senior Madeline Sims (Aztec, N. M.) and sophomore Loren Washington (Round Rock, Texas) battled through a difficult first set before breezing to victory in the second, posting a final of 21-17, 21-11. The fourth slot saw Kyra Henderson (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) kick things off by taking the first frame, 21-12 and they hung tough in the second when their opponents, Danielle Stachura and Kai Wesemann attempted to even things up. Henderson and Hutchinson would push the Javelina lead to 2-0, as their match ended 21-12, 21-17.
The No. 3 match followed a similar formula with freshmen Tenley Housler (Bulverde, Texas) and Erin Umbel (Helotes, Texas) easily capturing the opening confrontation, but they were forced to bear down to complete the sweep, which they did, 21-13, 21-19.
The top two matches both needed a third set to decide on a winner and, in each case, TAMUK's tandem outlasted their opposition. After the first set went to LMU, 23-21, sophomore Gabby Atchley (Concord, Calif.) and freshman Whitney Walker (Bellingham, Wash.) refused to wilt under the Florida sun. After drawing even, they outplayed Danielle Ged and Hailey Lake in the final set and emerged victorious, 21-23, 21-19, 15-9.
The second flight packed the most drama and it featured junior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) and freshman Macy Berg (San Antonio, Texas) against Abby Cash and Lindsey Nartker. A narrow 21-19 escape gave Brabham and Berg an early edge, but Cash and Nartker were able to tie things up. In the third, Cash and Nartker earned a match point at 14-13, but Berg and Brabham won the next three points for a dramatic 21-19, 15-21, 16-14 triumph.
TAMUK vs. Florida Southern
The second match in pool play for Tanya Allen's student-athletes was a rematch with a team the Javs had bested when they were in Deland, Fla. at the Stetson Tournament. Unfortunately for Florida Southern, while the venue was different, the script remained unchanged.
Kingsville didn't drop a set as they raced past the Mocs. In the third and fourth flights, both sets finished with the same scores. Umbel and Housler earned their team-high 17th victory, 21-15, 21-15. They now sit 10 games over .500 in 2018. Henderson and Hutchinson improved to 12-5 together, 21-14, 21-14.
Sims and Washington put together another solid performance in the No. 5 flight to take their match 21-15, 21-18. Berg and Brabham were able to dispose of Sydney Marshall and Makena Wilson, 21-17, 21-13. Walker and Atchley needed to work a little overtime in the top match, but their 22-20, 21-17 victory evened their season mark at 12-12.
The busiest members of the team on Saturday were sophomore Maelee Sowa (Sealy, Texas) and freshman Shelby Tate (New Braunfels, Texas), who competed in the Fiesta Pairs Tournament, which took place simultaneous to the beach championships in Tavares. Sowa and Tate first teamed up to win four matches in pool play and followed that up with a quarterfinals victory, putting them in the tourney's semifinals. The event was originally scheduled to be completed on Saturday, but, due to inclement weather, Sowa and Tate will instead return to action on Sunday.
For wall-to-wall coverage of each TAMUK match on the final day in the Sunshine State, visit Javelinaathletics.com and follow @JavelinaBeach on Twitter. You can also follow @JavelinaBeach on Instagram and like the /JavelinaSports Facebook page.
