KINGSVILLE, Texas – For the second time in program history, the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team is off to a 4-0 start after a perfect weekend at the Kingsville Tourney and they'll take that mark on the road to Fort Worth, where they'll play three matches on Friday at the TCU Beach Courts, starting with a 9:30 a.m. match against the Abilene Christian Wildcats, followed by an 11:30 a.m. meeting with the No. 16 TCU Horned Frogs and the Javelinas will conclude their day at 2 p.m., when they'll face the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Eight of the nine tandems fielded by TAMUK in the season's first weekend included players who were not on the roster in 2019 and the Javs still sailed through the weekend, collecting four consecutive sweeps. Stephen F. Austin proved to the be toughest test for Tanya Allen's team, pushing three matches to a decisive third set, but the Javs found a way to win each one.
The Javelinas' most dominant pairing through their first four matches has been the team of juniors Macy Berg (San Antonio, Calif.) and Meghan Merlino (Sacramento, Calif.) in the second flight. Merlino and Berg flew through the first weekend without dropping a set and bookended the tournament with a 21-6, 21-7 trouncing of Ottawa and a 21-4, 21-6 win over Cedar Valley. For Berg, this was the 19th time as a Javelina she's been part of a tandem that's knocked off a Division I opponent.
Nebraska's beach volleyball program has been around since 2013, but Friday's contest will be the first ever meeting between the Javelinas and the Cornhuskers, who entered this season in search of their first winning campaign since 2015. Their head coach, John Cook, has been at Lincoln since 2000 as head coach of the school's indoor volleyball team, leading that program to four National Championships during his tenure.
Over the last three years, TAMUK has become very familiar with both TCU and ACU, playing the two teams a combined six times, including three matchups in 2019. The Javelinas will be trying to maintain a perfect record against the Wildcats, who they've swept in all three of their meetings, but they'll also be trying for their first triumph over TCU. The Javs came closest in 2018, but suffered a 3-2 defeat.
Links to live updated from Friday's match as a well as a recap at the conclusion of the day can all be found on Javelinaathletics.com. To stay current with everything related to Javelina Beach Volleyball all year long, follow @JavelinaBeach on Twitter and @javelinasports and @JavelinaBeach on Instagram, like Javelina Sports on Facebook and visit Javelinasports.com. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
