CHARLESTON, S.C. – On the final day of the C of C Beach Bash, the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team flexed its muscle by disposing of a pair of opponents in short order, first defeating the Florida Southern Mocs, 4-1, then taking care of the Huntingdon Hawks, 5-0 on Sunday morning at the Creekside Tennis and Swim Club in Charleston, S.C.
This makes three straight wins for the Javelinas, who improved to 5-6 in 2019.
"We saw a difference in style of play this weekend," said coach Tanya Allen. "There were a lot of longer rallies and great defensive plays. It was great to be challenged and be able to learn from it."
TAMUK vs. Florida Southern
The Mocs and the Javelinas battled to a draw in the early going with FSC winning the No. 4 match, but freshmen Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) and Christina Gragasin (Celina, Texas) evening the score with a fifth flight victory. FSC took the exhibition match at No. 6 as well.
The top three flights, however, belonged to the Blue and Gold. Senior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) and sophomore Macy Berg (San Antonio, Texas) controlled the third flight en route to a 21-10, 21-17 final. The top flight went to the pairing of sophomores Whitney Walker (Bellingham, Wash.) and Tenley Housler (Bulverde, Texas) by a score of 21-16, 21-16 and senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) and freshman Kylexus Block (San Antonio, Texas) earned a 21-18, 21-16 triumph in the No. 2 spot.
TAMUK vs. Huntingdon
Against the Hawks, the Javelinas earned their second sweep of the season and didn't drop a single set in doing so.
Juniors TaylorLynn Noga (Anchorage, Alaska) and Melanie Casteel (Dallas, Texas) and Murff and Gragasin got the Javs started by securing the fourth and fifth flights, respectively. Noga and Casteel won 21-10, 21-17 and Murff and Gragasin scored a 21-7, 21-16 win. In the sixth slot, juniors Kadi Shipman (Georgetown, Texas) and Maelee Sowa (Georgetown, Texas) triumphed 21-13, 21-10.
Walker and Housler dominated the No. 1 matchup, 21-7, 21-6 and Block and Brabham picked up their team's fourth point, 21-15, 21-11. The 5-0 final was secured when Berg and Hutchinson outlasted their opponents in the second set for final tally of 21-14, 22-20.
The ULM Bayou Bash is next on the schedule for the Javelinas, who will travel to Monroe, La. for four matches in two days beginning on March 22nd. To stay current with everything related to Javelina Beach Volleyball all season long, follow @JavelinaBeach on Twitter and @javelinasports and @JavelinaBeach on Instagram, like Javelina Sports on Facebook and visit Javelinasports.com.
