NEW ORLEANS, La. – HCU beach fell to a ranked Texas A&M-Corpus Christi team and defeated Nicholls to split its final two games at the Southland Conference Mid-Season Tournament on Sunday to finish in third place in the conference standings with the SLC Tournament less than a month away.
The Huskies' (6-18, 5-2 SLC) first dual of the day came against the 20
th-ranked Islanders (19-4, 7-0 SLC) with TAMUCC coming out on top, 4-1. HCU's point came from the No. 1 pair of
Abbey Bufkin and
Kristen Kleymeyer in the form of a three-set victory (21-15, 14-21, 15-13).
Later in the afternoon, HCU finished off the three-day, six dual event with a 4-1 win over the Nicholls Colonels (6-18, 0-7 SLC). The Huskies' No. 3 pair of
Paige Palmer and
Audrey Pearce finished the tournament with a 5-1 record after posting a two-set win (21-16, 21-12). Bufkin and Kleymeyer made it a two-win day at the ones, taking down Nicholls' top pair in two (21-17, 21-9).
Kristin Gilmour and
Rachel Heilbrun won as the No. 2 pair in straight sets (21-10, 21-16) while
Kylann Griffith and
Tatum Lockhardt paired up at the fives to win in two (21-18, 27-25).
The Huskies are off this coming weekend and return to action with a trip to Nacogdoches, Texas on Tuesday, Apr. 2, to take on Stephen F. Austin.
