KINGSVILLE, Texas —The Texas A&M-Kingsville beach volleyball team has a tough road ahead of them as they head to Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday to begin competition at the 2023 Horned Frog Challenge, which will see them take on No. 1 TCU, Southern Mississippi. and No. 4/5 LSU.
The Javelinas fell to Tulane 5-0 last time out before suffering a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches. Texas as a part of the SFA Invitational Tournament. The No. 3 pairing of freshman Olivia Zeigler and junior Grace Gettys and the No. 4 duo of newcomer Kalani Vasquez and classmate Meghan Stiefer were the lone pairs to log a victory on the weekend.
The team will be met with a trio of tough opponents this week as they open things on Friday against unanimous No. 1 TCU at 11 a.m. The Horned Frogs currently top the America Volleyball Coaches Association Poll, the Pablo rankings, and the Collegebeachvb.com poll. They've compiled a 9-0 record to open the year, including a nearly perfect start, dropping only one point to No. 2 Florida State all season.
The most potent pair for TCU has been their No. 1 duo of Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno Mateeva, who are slotted third on the National Pair Rankings with a perfect 7-0 mark.
At 1 p.m., the Javs will turn their attention toward Southern Mississippi, who have gone 7-3 to start 2023, falling only to Florida Atlantic, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Palm Beach Atlantic.
The competition on Saturday starts at 8:30 a.m. with TAMUK set to battle No. 4/5 LSU, who, similarly to TCU, have started the year 9-0. They've dropped points only to South Carolina and Tulane on the season and have the top-ranked No. 1 pair in the country in Ellie Shank and Kylie Deberg. Additionally, all five Tiger Pairs appear in the top-five positions on the national pairs leader board.
The Javelinas then cap off the tournament with another matchup against Southern Miss, as they battle the Golden Eagles at 2:45 p.m.
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