CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – HCU beach opened the day with a win over No. 2 seed Southeastern to become the first No. 4 seed to ever reach the Championship Match at the Southland Conference Beach Volleyball Championships but fell to No. 1 seed and host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the title match on Friday afternoon.
The Huskies (13-24) avenged a loss to Southeastern (17-16) from the Southland Mid-Season Tournament, defeating the Lady Lions by a 3-1 final. The first point of the duel went to SLU on Court 4 before
Hannah Foor and
Olivia Zeigler put HCU on board on Court 2 with a 21-16, 21-15 win. The next point came at the threes with
Alexa Landmark and
Lauren Vickery cruising to a 21-7, 21-19 victory. The third point came on Court 5 where
Claudia Verdejo Lozano and
Mycah Whittemore came out on top, 21-19, 21-15.
In the championship match, the Islanders (23-9) defeated the Huskies, 3-0. Saskia Hernandez and Mia Stevens won on Court 4, defeating
Sophia Sabol and
Dariya Tlevlessova in two sets, 21-13, 22-20. Foor and Zeigler then dropped a three-set heartbreaker on Court 2, falling 21-11, 21-23, 19-17. The deciding point came at the fives, with Lizzie Denyer and Ashlyn Rough downing Verdejo Lozano and Whittemore, 21-4, 21-11.
The Huskies became the first-ever No. 4 seed to reach the SLC Championship as this year's championship became the first time the championship match was not a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. HCU closed out the season by winning nine of its last 14 matches.
