YOUNGSVILLE, La. – Tarleton State Beach Volleyball played three matches on Thursday in its quest for a conference championship, but the Texans’ season ended in the nightcap against Missouri State in the Conference USA Beach Volleyball Championship.
Tarleton State finishes its second season in program history at 6-17, posting four more wins than its inaugural season. Tarleton State won a match in the Conference USA Beach Volleyball Championship in back-to-back years, sweeping Sam Houston 3-0 in the second match on Thursday. The 7-seed Texans opened against 2-seed Tulane and fell 3-0, then dropped their elimination match against 6-seed Missouri State at Sugar Beach in Youngsville, Louisiana.
The Texans competed in all three matches, and even with a 3-0 defeat in the nightcap, most sets were razor thin. Against Missouri State, Emma Halcomb and Allison Bryant were tied at 20-20 in Set 2 after a 23-21 loss in Set 1 to Becca Bach and Allyson Larkin, and the other unfinished match showcased Grayson Schirpik and Hayden Huber leading the second set after a 21-19 first set loss against MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary. The finished matches came in order of Courts 5, 4, 3, with Olivia Rattler and Erin Eschleman defeating Camilla Chun and Charlize Ching 21-19 21-17 at No. 5, Rylie Cepicky and Manuela Niemeyer defeating Sofia Bendele and Christian Mitchell 21-14 21-11 at No. 4, and Morgan Sprague and Maddie Schrandt defeating Bella Parayno and Amaya Brown 21-18 21-18 at No. 3.
In Tarleton’s win against Sam Houston, the Texans ended the Bearkats’ season in the elimination match. First, Bendele and Mitchell took down Talan Dodson and Bella Wood on Court 4 21-10 21-10. Then Chun and Ching beat Abby Clayton and Lylah Washington 21-13 21-14 on Court 5. On Court 2, Schirpik and Huber ended the team match with a 21-8 21-19 win over Hannah Baker and McKenzie Morvant. Courts 1 and 3 were unfinished, with Parayno and Brown leading by a set (25-23) over Kenedi Miller and Ella Folse on No. 3, and Halcomb and Bryant trailing by a set (21-17) against Avery Fowler and Michaela Panekova on Court 1.
Against Tulane in Tarleton’s conference opener, the order was 5, 3, 4, with Courts 1-2 unfinished. Amelia Mullen and Avery Burks defeated Chun and Ching 21-7 21-17 at No. 5. Then Gigi Gallegos and Sam O’Connor defeated Parayno and Brown 21-12 21-11 at No. 3. On Court 4, Sara Hall and Samantha Green defeated Bendele and Mitchell 21-10 21-11. Both Halcomb-Bryant and Schirpik-Huber lost their first sets 21-18.
Halcomb and Bryant didn’t see a match to the end on Thursday, as Tarleton’s top pair finished its season 10-10 together. Schirpik and Huber went 1-1, while Bendele-Mitchell and Chun-Ching each picked up a win against Sam Houston.
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