NEW ORLEANS, La. – HCU and the other seven Southland Conference beach volleyball teams are set to descend upon the Crescent City for the SLC Mid-Season Tournament, with all teams playing six duals across three days against conference opponents, at Privateer Beach from Friday through Sunday.
The Huskies (2-16, 1-0 SLC) open the tournament on Friday, Mar. 22, against a Boise State (14-7, 1-0 SLC) team receiving votes and sitting just outside the top-20 in the latest AVCA Coaches poll at 12:00 p.m. followed by Southeastern (6-7, 0-1 SLC) at 4:00 p.m. On Saturday, Mar. 23, HCU gets off to an early start with an 8:00 a.m. matchup against McNeese (2-13, 1-0 SLC) before facing San Jose State (6-7, 0-1 SLC) at 1:15 p.m. The Huskies then close things out on Sunday, Mar. 24, with No. 20 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (13-4, 1-0 SLC) at 10:30 a.m. followed by Nicholls (6-12, 0-1 SLC) at 2:30 p.m.
The Huskies opened SLC play last weekend with a matchup against New Orleans in Youngsville, La., picking up a 3-2 win over the Privateers. This past Wednesday, HCU lost a pair of midweek duals on Wednesday in Austin, falling to No. 14 Washington, 4-1, and Texas, 3-2. The HCU pair of
Mary Alper and
Gabi Axelrod went 2-0 on the day, however, playing as the Huskies' No. 5 pair.
Boise State has produced the last three SLC Pairs of the Week and last weekend, at the Sugar Beach Bash, the Broncos earned wins over No. 20 Tampa, Tulane and Southeastern. The team's No. pair of Marlayna Bullington and Sierra Land is 16-5 this season, winning all four matches last weekend en route to SLC Pair of the Week honors.
The Lady Lions come into the weekend having lost their last four. After falling, 5-0, to Boise State to open the Sugar Beach Bash, Southeastern dropped a couple of 3-2 decisions to SFA and Southern Miss while taking a 4-1 loss at the hands of South Carolina. Southeastern's No. 1 pair, Rachel Hartmann and Andrea Da Silva, went 3-1 last weekend.
McNeese is in its first season with a beach volleyball team with the Cowgirls owning wins over Tarleton and Nicholls. Rylee Lansing and Kendall Osgood are 4-3 when paired together playing at the twos and threes while Carissa Chaney and Gracey Janes own a 4-8 record as the No. 1 pair.
San Jose State hosted a tournament last weekend, posting a 2-2 record with wins over Sacramento State and St. Mary's while falling to TAMUCC and Utah. The Spartans' No. 1 pairing of Jada Hall and Jaida Ward earned wins over the Islanders and St. Mary's.
The Islanders entered the AVCA Top 20 for the first time this week with three of the team's four losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents. Last weekend, TAMUCC defeated San Jose State, North Florida and Utah while dropping a 4-1 decision to No. 3 Stanford. Kristin Bobay and Madison Morrow lead the Islanders with 11 wins at the ones and twos.
Nicholls dropped four duals last weekend at the ULM Bayou Bash, falling to Texas A&M-Kingsville, Missouri State, McNeese and ULM. Bethanie Durant and Brooklynn Wilkinson leads the Colonels with seven wins, playing primarily as the No. 3 pair.
The Huskies will be off Easter weekend and return to the sand on Tuesday, Apr. 2 with a trip to Nacogdoches, Texas to face Stephen F. Austin.
