STANFORD, Calif. – The HCU beach volleyball team heads west this weekend to face a loaded field at the Stanford Invitational on Friday and Saturday at the Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium.
HCU (1-10) dropped three matches last weekend at the TCU Invitational, facing off against the sixth-ranked Horned Frogs, SLC foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and a Florida Gulf Coast team that was receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll.
This weekend marks the last tournament before the Huskies head to Youngsville, La. for the Southland Conference Mid-Season Tournament with five duals against conference opponents.
Long Beach State (7-3), ranked 11
th, is up first for the Huskies on Friday, Mar. 13, morning at 11:00 a.m. CT. The Beach won three of four matches at a home tournament last weekend, defeating Stetson, UAB and Santa Clara while falling to Loyola Marymount. LBSU's Court 1 duo of Malia Gementara and Taylor Hagenah own an 8-2 record.
The Huskies will then face No. 2 Stanford (12-2) later in the afternoon on Friday. The Cardinal has seven ranked wins already this season with losses to No. 4 USC and No. 2 UCLA. The pairing of Charlotta Bell and Logan Tusher have a season record of 9-2, going 7-2 at Court 4 and 2-0 on Court 3. The Huskies and Cardinal have met twice before with HCU earning a 3-2 upset win over 10
th-ranked Stanford during the 2023 season.
No. 16 North Florida (9-3) awaits the Huskies on Saturday, Mar. 14, at 10:00 a.m. CT. The Ospreys have won five-straight duals, including a sweep of their home tournament last weekend with wins over Mercer, Florida International, Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville. Samantha Crosby and Kamryn McDonald posted a perfect 4-0 record last weekend playing at the fours.
Washington (6-6), currently ranked 18
th, will be HCU's opponent to close out the weekend on Saturday. The Huskies dropped four matches, all to ranked opponents, last weekend. Washington faced UCLA, Texas, LSU and California last weekend. Ella Tyus and Sarah Wilcock own a team-best 7-1 record, going 5-1 on Court 4 and 2-0 on Court 3.
The SLC Mid-Season Tournament takes place Saturday and Sunday (Mar. 21-22) in Youngsville, La. with matches against Stephen F. Austin, Southeastern, Nicholls, New Orleans and McNeese scheduled.
