KINGSVILLE, Texas – Three years after becoming the first team to claim the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Championship and one year after seeing their chances of reclaiming that title dashed by a global pandemic, the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team has returned to Tavares, Fla., for the AVCA Small College Beach Championship, which will be held from Friday through Sunday at the Hickory Point Beach Sand Volleyball Complex.
TAMUK's slate in Tavares will begin with pool play on Friday. The fourth-seeded Javelinas are scheduled to face the Florida Southern Mocs at 9 a.m. CT and the Wayne State Wildcats at 1 p.m. on day one before capping off pool play with a Saturday match against the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish set for 11 a.m.
The Javelinas landed in the fourth spot following a regular season in which they put together an 11-11 record, the fourth time in five seasons the team has reached a double-digit win total, with the shortened 2020 campaign being the only exception. Four of those victories have been sweeps, including a 5-0 blanking of the Utah Utes on April 2nd, and all but two of the Javs' wins have come at the expense of Division I programs.
The Blue and Gold tandem carrying the most momentum is that of seniors Debra Rogers (Tulsa, Okla.) and Shelby Williams (New Braunfels, Texas). TAMUK's team in the No. 2 flight has won their last four matches, including a sweep against No. 3 LSU on Saturday. No pairing during the 2021 campaign has more wins for coach Tanya Allen's squad than the 14 Rogers and Williams have racked up.
"Shelby and Debra have really established their own style of play," said Allen. "It's super-fast, its super-physical and they've been able to capitalize on that and become a force to be reckoned with."
In the third flight, freshman Macie Satterwhite (Callisburg, Texas) and junior Tenley Housler (Bulverde, Texas) have also started to thrive together, taking seven of their last nine matchups. All but one of those triumphs have been sweeps, including a straight set win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday that helped seal a 3-2 final for the Javs. For Housler, she's one of three players still on the TAMUK roster from the 2018 team.
"Macie and Tenley have just now established some chemistry," said Allen. "We switched partners for a while and tried figure out what was the best fit for the team and they've now grown to appreciate one another and push each other, so they're performing at a high level right now."
PBA put together a 12-6 regular season record and their reward was to be granted the tournament's No. 3 seed, making them the top ranked team in TAMUK's pool. The Sailfish arrive in Tavares having won six of their last seven matches, including a 4-1 win over the defending National Champion Tampa Spartans on April 3rd.
The top two flights have been where PBA has been the strongest in 2021, with a combined record of 28-7 in those slots. In the No. 1 spot, junior Jazz Schmidt and sophomore Lunden Evans have been proved to be a perfect match, going 13-3 together and collecting eight wins in their last 10 tries.
The Mocs and the Wildcats will be attempting to spring an upset on their higher ranked foes in pool play. Wayne State has only been able to compete in four matches in 2021 and the AVCA Tournament will be their first action in more than a month, though they will be entering the event with a 3-1 record. Florida Southern dropped their first 11 matches of the season, but they have won two of their last three and will be attempting to keep that momentum going in the national tournament.
Fans can stay up-to-date with everything related to Javelina beach volleyball during the season by following @JavelinaBeach and @JavelinaSports on Twitter and Instagram, liking the Javelina Sports Facebook page, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel and visiting Javelinathletics.com. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
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