KINGSVILLE, Texas – Amidst a schedule that includes some of the best opponents the Division I level has to offer, the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team will switch gears slightly as they head to the C of C Beach Bash, which will be held in Charleston, S.C. on Saturday and Sunday at the Creekside Tennis and Swim Club.
The weekend begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, when the Javelinas are scheduled to tangle with the College of Charleston. TAMUK's second match of day one will pit them against the Carson-Newman Eagles at 2 p.m. Sunday's slate begins with an 8 a.m. matchup against the Florida Southern Mocs and ends against Huntingdon College with a 10 a.m. match.
This list of opponents includes a pair of teams the Javs may see again in 2019, as both Carson-Newman and Florida Southern will be among the schools trying to dethrone TAMUK at the 2019 American Volleyball Coaches Association Small College Beach Championships.
C-N's beach volleyball program is in its fifth season and Eagles enter the weekend with an 0-4 record and they'll be attempting to snap a 23-match losing streak that dates back to 2017.
They nearly broke that skid at the Principia College Beach Bash, where they began the season on March 1st and 2nd. In their first two matches, the Eagles picked up points from their third and fourth pairings and lost narrow decisions in the fifth flight to fall, 3-2.
In each instance, it was the tandems of Aryana Fazelnia and Kelly Hughes at No. 3 and Montgomery Sauter and Lauren Williams at No. 4 that earned wins for the Eagles. Sauter and Williams finished off their team's initial weekend of competition with another victory, this one over Tusculum and their record currently stands at 3-1.
The Mocs were victimized by the Javelinas twice in 2018, including the group stages of the AVCA Championship, when the Blue and Gold scored a 5-0 sweep without dropping a single set. FSC began the year with four consecutive losses before rebounding on Tuesday with a pair of wins over UT-Martin.
The fourth flight has been the most reliable for the Mocs to this point, as it's gone their way three times in six matches. Two of those triumphs were earned by Katie Burgeron and Morgan Cleary. In both cases, Cleary and Burgeron went to three sets to earn their victories.
TAMUK's toughest test in Charleston will undoubtedly come from the College of Charleston Cougars, who are receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll and have started the year 3-0. The Cougars spent last season moving in and out of the national poll and defeated four nationally ranked opponents before falling at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Championships.
The top two flights have been the property of the Cougars through three matches, as the teams of Lauren Freed and Kennedy Mason and Devon Rachel and McKala Rhodes stand at 3-0. For Rhodes and Rachel, this is their second year together after going 13-11 last season. Mason and Freed spent last year split up in two different slots, but both posted winning records.
The Huntingdon Hawks shook off an 0-7 start to post an upset victory over Nicholls State their last time out. They've gotten the most production out of their No. 5 pairing, which includes, April Reese and Alexis Creasman. In addition to a victory over Nicholls State, Reese and Creasman also defeated pairings from Jacksonville State and North Alabama.
Several close losses stained the first week of the season for the Javelinas (2-5), but they also earned a couple victories, including one over rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The pairing of senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) and freshman Kylexus Block (San Antonio, Texas) had perhaps the strongest showing for the Blue and Gold at their first tournament, the Emerald Beach Hotel Classic, capturing four of their five matches. On the final day of the tournament, Brabham and Block twice rebounded after dropping the first set, outlasting their opponents in three set triumphs. Those results helped Brabham and Block land on the all-tournament team.
Four victories have also come from the third flight pairing of senior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) and sophomore Macy Berg (San Antonio, Texas). They won both of their matches on the season's first day, which included TAMUK's besting of the Islanders. Hutchinson and Berg also topped opponents from the University of New Mexico and Houston Baptist.
A recap of each match in Charleston will be posted on Javelinaathletics.com at the end of each day. Fans can keep up with Javelina Beach Volleyball by following @JavelinaBeach on Twitter and @javelinasports and @JavelinaBeach on Instagram, liking Javelina Sports on Facebook and visiting Javelinasports.com.
