KINGSVILLE, Texas – The first day of the Kingsville Beach Bash included a win and a loss for the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team, as they disposed of the Park University Pirates, 5-0, before suffering a 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday afternoon at the Javelina Beach Courts in Kingsville, Texas.
Those results put the Javelinas at 11-12 this season.
TAMUK vs. Park
The first match of the day was all Javelinas, as the home team didn't drop a single set on their way to a clean sweep. Freshmen Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) and Christina Gragasin (Celina, Texas) got things started with a win in the fifth flight, 21-10, 21-4, and juniors TaylorLynn Noga (Anchorage, Alaksa) and Melanie Casteel (Dallas, Texas) followed suit in the fourth spot by a score of 21-13, 21-17. The sixth flight went to the Javelina pairing of juniors Maelee Sowa (Sealy, Texas) and Kadi Shipman (Georgetown, Texas), 21-15, 21-4.
Senior Haley Hutchinson (Georgetown, Texas) and sophomore Macy Berg (San Antonio, Texas) started fast in both sets in the third slot. They took a 9-1 lead in the first set and started the second with a 9-2 burst and wound up winning, 21-9, 21-9. Of the first 13 points in the second flight, 10 were won by senior Madison Brabham (Kingwood, Texas) and freshman Kylexus Block (San Antonio, Texas). They picked up the first stanza, 21-9 and were just as dominant in the second, collecting six of the last seven points for a 21-9, 21-7 final.
Sophomores Whitney Walker (Bellingham, Wash.) and Tenley Housley (Bulverde, Texas) used four straight points to stretch an 11-10 lead to 15-10 and cruised from there to secure the first set, 21-12. They then started the second frame by taking a 15-6 edge and easily held on to secure their team's shutout, posting a score of 21-12, 21-9.
TAMUK vs. ASU
The Sun Devils quickly established control of the match by winning the first two flights. They took the fourth flight, 21-9, 21-12 and won the No. 5 match, 21-12, 21-11. They also took the sixth spot, 21-19, 21-13. The clincher was applied by Bailey Anderson and Lauren Weintraub at No. 3 by a score of 21-10, 21-13.
Both the No. 1 and No. 2 matches were fierce contests that required a third set. Brabham and Block used a stretch that saw them win seven of 10 points to break a 7-7 tie and move ahead, 14-10. They rode that lead all the way to a 21-16 final in the first set, but their opponents rebounded to capture the second frame, 21-12. The final set was back-and-forth the entire way, but the Sun Devils won the last three points to triumph, 16-14.
The No. 1 match started with another nail-biter, with Oly Okaro and Ashley Wenz coming out on top, 26-24. This time it was the Javelinas who rebounded, with Walker and Housler winning six of the last eight points in set two, posting a score of 21-19. Okaro and Wenz would come out on top, however, 26-24, 19-21, 15-8.
TAMUK's Senior Day will coincide with their final home date of the regular season on Saturday. The Javelinas will play Park at 10 a.m. and Abilene Christian at 3 p.m. 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.
