HOUSTON – Second-seeded HBU defeated New Orleans, 3-1, in the semifinal to advance to the title match, but top-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi slipped past the Huskies, 3-2, to claim the Southland Conference Beach Volleyball Championship Sunday at Third Coast Volleyball Club.
 
HBU's No. 5 pair of sophomore Shelby O'Neal and freshman Gabi Axelrod earned the first point of the match, but TAMU-CC evened it up with a win at No. 4. The Huskies' No. 2 duo of freshman Abbey Reinard and sophomore Alison Stanfill took the next point, but the Islanders shortly followed by winning the one slot.
 
The duel came down to the number three position, the only match to go to a third set, where TAMU-CC jumped out to an early lead to claim the title.
 
Here is a look at the Huskies' scoreboard for the day:
 

 


The Islanders avenge last year's loss to HBU in the championship final of the inaugural conference championship and claim the league's first-ever automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.