AUSTIN, Texas – With the Southland Conference Mid-Season Tournament on the docket for the upcoming weekend, the HCU beach team will make a quick trip in-state to take on 14
th-ranked Washington and Texas at the Berry M. Whitaker Sports Complex this Wednesday.
The Huskies (2-14) will first take on No. 14 Washington (5-7) at 11:00 a.m. before a quick turnaround to face the host Longhorns (1-3) at 1:30 p.m. The first battle of the Huskies took place opening weekend with Washington taking a 5-0 win over HCU at the Third Coast College Classic. Wednesday will be the first-ever matchup against Texas with two more duals scheduled for Apr. 5-6 at the TCU Invitational.
HCU posted a 1-3 record last weekend at the Sugar Beach Bash, starting Southland Conference play with a 3-2 victory over New Orleans. The Huskies then fell to a Tulane squad receiving votes in the AVCA Coach Poll before taking a point against No. 20 Tampa in a 4-1 loss and suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to SFA. A pair of freshmen,
Rachel Heilbrun and
Kristin Gilmour, paired up for the first time as the team's No. 2 pair and posted a 3-1 record.
Washington went 2-2 last weekend at the Pac-12 South event held in Tempe, Ariz., defeating Utah and No. 19 Arizona before falling to No. 1 UCLA and No. 3 USC. The Huskies' top four pairs all went 2-2 last weekend, including the No. 1 pairing of Piper Monk-Heidrich and Maggy Rabitsch.
Texas, meanwhile, played its first tournament of the season last weekend at the LBSU Invitational. The Longhorns dropped a 5-0 decision to No. 7 Long Beach State and fell to No. 11 Arizona State by a 3-2 final. Texas defeated Nebraska, 3-2, and fell to CSU Northridge, 3-2. Two different pairs went 3-1 for the Longhorns with the duos of Kelly McCloskey/Macey Butler and Hannah Ogden/Presley Wright playing at either the threes or fours.
After Wednesday's duals, the Huskies will head to New Orleans, La. for the SLC Mid-Season Tournament HCU will take on Boise State and Southeastern on Friday, Mar. 22, McNeese and San Jose State on Saturday, Mar. 23, and No. 20 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Nicholls on Sunday, Mar. 24.
