CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The HCU beach volleyball team faces three in-state rivals this Friday and Saturday in the Conni & Jay Wise Islander Classic at Waters Edge Park, the site of this year's Southland Conference Championship.
HCU (11-9) saw its nine-match winning streak end last weekend at the Gamecock Grand Slam and is now looking to snap a three-match skid. The Huskies fell to 16
th-ranked South Carolina, Tampa and Arizona State last weekend and had their dual with No. 11 Georgia State suspended due to travel for both teams on a rain-delayed day with the match even at 1-1.
The Huskies' No. 2 pair of
Lindsay Harris and
Kristen Kleymeyer lead the team with 13 wins this season and an overall record of 13-7.
Maddie Butters and
Alison Stanfill own a record of 11-9 at the No. 1 pair while No. 3 pair
Abbey Bufkin and
Abbey Reinard are 10-10.
On Friday, Mar. 31, the Huskies open against Stephen F. Austin (2-12) at 9:00 a.m. Losers of their last four duals, the Ladyjacks' wins this season have come against Texas A&M-Kingsville and UNC-Wilmington. HCU owns a 4-2 all-time record against SFA and has won the last three meetings.
HCU will then face Texas A&M-Kingsville (8-11) at 1:00 p.m. on Friday to finish out the day. The Javelinas owns wins over Southland Conference members New Orleans and Nicholls this season and most recently posted a 3-1 record at the ULM Bayou Bash. TAMUK is led by No. 3 pair Grace Gettys and Olivia Zeigler with a 13-6 record on the season and a record of 9-1 over the last 10 matches. The Huskies are 5-2 all-time vs. the Javelinas but TAMUK has taken the last two meetings.
The Huskies will close out the event against the host Islanders (15-8) at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, Apr. 1. The Huskies fell to the Islanders, 5-0, in the first tournament of the season at Third Coast Volleyball Club. The duo of Jade Bennett and Tori Johnson leads TAMUCC with a 13-9 record at the threes while No. 5 pair Kela Morena and Shea Slusser have won six-straight matches and are the Southland's reigning Pair of the Week.
The Huskies will travel north to Fort Worth, Texas for their penultimate tournament of the season, the TCU Invitational, on Friday and Saturday, Apr. 7-8.
