TAVARES, Fla. – The second day of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Small College Beach Championships for the Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team was highlighted by a run of three straight wins by senior Shelby Tate (New Braunfels, Texas) and sophomore Christina Gragasin (Celina, Texas) that earned them the AVCA Pairs Challenge Tournament Championship on Saturday at the Hickory Point Beach Sand Volleyball Complex in Tavares, Fla.
As a team, the Javelinas suffered defeats to the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish, 4-1, and the Spring Hill Badgers, 3-2. Despite these defeats, the Javs landed the No. 4 seed in the tournament's gold bracket, setting them up for a quarterfinal matchup with Colorado Mesa on Sunday.
AVCA Pairs Challenge Tournament
Tate and Gragasin landed the top seed in the tourney's single elimination bracket by collecting three triumphs on Friday and disposed of their first opponents on Saturday, 21-12, 21-14. Their second match pitted them against a pair from PBA and Tate and Gragasin cruised in the first frame, 21-11, before pulling out a closely contested second set by a 21-18 score, punching their ticket to the final.
The title match was more of the same for this tandem, who cruised through six matches in this competition without dropping a single set. They collected the first frame by five, then erased an early deficit in the second to claim the championship with a 21-16, 21-16 final.
"We did well at staying consistent," said Tate. "We worked really well together because we've played together for three years now. We made good shots, our serving was really good, everything was good."
TAMUK vs. Palm Beach Atlantic
For TAMUK's team, their day started with their final match in Pool C against PBA. While freshmen Rylie Anderson (Justin, Texas) and Emily North (Red Oak, Texas) earned a 21-16, 21-12 triumph in the fourth flight, that was the only point the Javelinas could secure. Narrow defeats in the first, second and fourth flights allowed the Sailfish to come out on top.
TAMUK vs. Spring Hill
For the third time in 2021, the Javs met the Badgers and two hotly contested matches went to the Javelinas. First, seniors Shelby Williams (New Braunfels, Texas) and Debra Rogers (Tulsa, Okla.) pulled out a 24-22, 22-20 nail-biter in the No. 2 match. At No. 4, North and Anderson rebounded after dropping the first frame by six and locked down the next two for a 15-21, 21-18, 15-10 victory that evened the contest at 2-2.
The third flight proved to be the tiebreaker and it went to a third set. Junior Tenley Housler (Bulverde, Texas) and freshman Macie Satterwhite (Callisburg, Texas) staged a comeback to even the game at 13-13, but the next two points went to the Badgers, clinching a win for Spring Hill.
The Javelinas and Mavericks will collide at 9 a.m. on Sunday and the winner of their match will meet top-seeded Tampa in the semifinals. 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.
Get the Official Javelina Athletics Mobile App presented by Whataburger today! Download on the App Store or Get It on Google Play to keep up with all the news, scores and updates of your favorite Javelinas
