CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The HCU beach volleyball team was knocked out of the 2023 Southland Conference Championships on Saturday afternoon by New Orleans after opening the day with a win over San Jose State.
The day started with HCU (17-18) taking a 3-1 elimination match win over San Jose State (10-9).
Gabi Axelrod and
Shelby O'Neal earned the first point for the Huskies at the No. 5 position, winning 21-19, 21-19. At the No. 3 spot,
Mary Alper and
Paige Palmer won in two sets, 25-23, 21-17, while the final and deciding point came in three sets at the No. 1 position with
Maddie Butters and
Alison Stanfill winning, 16-21, 21-16, 15-13.
Immediately after the win over SJSU, the Huskies matched up with New Orleans (21-16). HCU got out to a 2-0 advantage with wins by Axelrod and O'Neal at the fives, 24-22, 21-13, while
Abbey Bufkin and
Abbey Reinard downed the Privateers at the No. 4 position, 21-17, 21-19. The No. 3 position went to UNO in two sets before Butters and Stanfill lost in three sets (19-21, 21-17, 15-11) at the ones. The final point came down to three sets (23-21, 17-21, 15-11) with Harris and Kleymeyer falling just short.
