HOUSTON – HCU beach volleyball is set to open its 10
th season this weekend with the Huskies hosting the Third Coast College Classic at Third Coast Volleyball Club on Saturday and Sunday.
Joining the Huskies in the tournament field this year are No. 15 Texas, UTEP, Central Arkansas, McNeese and Sam Houston. On Saturday, Feb. 22, HCU is currently set to face Sam Houston at 12:00 p.m. before taking on UTEP at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, will see the Huskies face Central Arkansas at 10:00 a.m. before closing out the tournament against the Longhorns at 2:30 p.m.
The Huskies boast a young roster with eight returning letterwinners. Among those returners is the sophomore duo of
Kristin Gilmour and
Rachel Heilbrun. The pair teamed up to post a 15-9 record at the twos last season, earning a win over the Longhorns and closing the season on a seven-match win streak. Junior
Paige Palmer has 20 career wins, totaling 10 in each of her first two seasons. Senior
Audrey Pearce finished last year 9-11 at the threes while sophomore
Tatum Lockhardt totaled 14 wins during her freshman campaign playing at the threes, fours and fives.
HCU was picked third in the Southland Conference preseason poll and received one first-place vote. Reigning champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Boise State tied for first in the poll with TAMUCC receiving nine first place votes to the Broncos' eight.
The Huskies finished the 2024 campaign with a 13-23 overall record, going 5-2 in SLC matches and falling in the semifinals of the SLC Championship Tournament.
Texas is in just its third year as a program, posting a 7-8 record in 2024. The Huskies and Longhorns faced off three times last season with Texas winning two of the three. All three matches were close 3-2 affairs. The Longhorns return Emma Grace Robertson and Katie Hashman who teamed up to go 8-3 on court one last season along with Ava Patton who finished the year 8-3, including going 6-2 at the threes and fours with Presley Wright.
UTEP is another program in its third year, posting a 12-13 record in 2024. The Huskies and Miners met twice in 2023 with HCU winning both matchups. The Miners return their No. 1 pair of from last season of Paulina Acuna and Krista Paegle who went 11-12 on the year. Madison Hill returns after posting a 13-10 record at the twos last year while Marian Ovalle finished with a 13-7 record playing at the threes.
Central Arkansas closed out the 2024 season with an 8-25 record that included a 4-1 loss to HCU to begin the season. The Huskies own a 9-5 all-time record against the Bears and have won eight of the last nine duals. UCA returns eight players from last year's roster.
Sam Houston is beginning its first-ever season as a program with Saturday's matchup against the Huskies the inaugural Bearkats' dual. SHSU is led by Brad Keenan who previously spent seven seasons as head coach at Arizona State where he accumulated an overall record of 90-97.
McNeese, a fellow SLC member, is in year two as a program after going 3-22 in its inaugural campaign in 2024. The Cowgirls return six letterwinners from last year, including Riley Lansing and Kendall Osgood who tied for the team-lead with eight individual wins. Seven of those came as a pair as they went 5-10 on court two and 2-0 at court three.
The Huskies will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. next weekend for the Florida State Seminole Beach Bash with duals set against CSU Bakersfield, No. 13 Georgia State and No. 6 Florida State on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-Mar. 1.
