BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – HBU beach volleyball was edged by Florida Gulf Coast in the afternoon, 3-2, then lost to Florida International, 4-1, in the evening on the first day of the Tiger Beach Challenge hosted by LSU Saturday at Mango's Beach Volleyball Club.
"Today was an exciting day in our program growth," HBU associate head coach
Cameron Sitler said. "We can't measure the success in wins and losses as we continue to grow. The team continues to show our unity and fight throughout the schedule. Tomorrow presents another opportunity to pick back up against UNF and SHC."
The matchup with FGCU went down to the wire, with the Nos. 1-3 matches all going three sets. At No. 5, FGCU's Caroline Jordan and Hallie Wekmeister defeated HBU seniors
Morgan McDaniel and
Tiffany Thomas, 21-18, 21-4, while Leigh Podwill and Madi Wilcox gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead by defeating Huskies senior
Taylor Livoti and freshman
Danielle Wheeler, 21-8, 21-15.
HBU answered back at no. 3, with senior
Melissa Fuchs and junior
Bailey Banks taking down FGCU's Katie Puisis and Karissa Rhodes, 21-19, 16-21, 15-11. The Huskies' no. 2 pair of senior
Kayla Armer and freshman Victoria Hinojosa outlasted the Eagles' Gio Borgiotti and Ashley Glickant, 21-19, 15-21, 15-10. The match came down to the no. 1 matchup, with FGCU's Mackenzie Allen and Amanda Carroll clipping HBU senior
Jessica Wooten and sophomore
Aeriel Horton, 17-21, 21-9, 16-14.
In the evening match against FIU, HBU was only able to win at the no. 1 position, with Wooten and Horton defeating Katie Hogan and Dori Klinger, 23-21, 21-16. Armer and Hinojosa lost to Bela Sataric and Estefanie Bethancourt, 21-18, 21-15 at no. 2. In the no. 3 match, Fuchs and Banks fell to Helene Thelle and Kari Peterson in three, 22-20, 6-21, 15-11. Livoti and Thomas were matched up at no. 4 and were edged by Taija Thomas and Margherita Bianchin, 19-21, 21-15, 15-6. At no. 5, McDaniel and Wheeler lost to Natalia Giron and Lina Bernier, 21-11, 21-17. In the alternate match HBU sophomore
Madison O'Brien and freshman
Hannah Lewis were downed by Katie Friesen and Mackenzie Walker, 21-8, 21-18).
The Huskies wrap up the tournament with a pair of matches Sunday, first against North Florida at 11 a.m., followed by Spring Hill College at 3 p.m.
