Monroe, Louisiana – The Central Arkansas beach volleyball team returned to play at ULM's Bayou Beach Bash with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Beach Bears picked up a 5-0 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, before falling to #17 TCU 4-1.
Central Arkansas (7-1) opened the day in dominant fashion taking down the Islanders 5-0 without dropping a set.
Abbie Harry and
Kimberly Schnars got things going in the exhibition match, taking down Mary Katarzynski and Madeline Doud 21-14, 21-17 before
Kellen Dunn and
MC Rogers scored the match's first point with a 21-18, 21-10 win over Kelsee Felux and Claire Carsten in the No. 4 match.
Kristine Hjembo and
Stephanie Pollnow closed out the first half with a 21-17, 21-13 win over Morgan Carlson and Mallory Moran.
The Beach Bears continued their high level of play after the break, as
Amy South and
Mackenzie Dear took down Naomi Overstreet and Morgan Williams 21-11, 21-9 at the No. 5 position, while
Kate Elman and
Heather Schnars picked up a 21-11, 21-15 win over Mackenzie Coates and Madison Woods in the No. 3 match.
Megan Nash and
Haley Tippett then wrapped things up with a 21-12, 21-19 victory over Madi Fitzsimmons and Madison Green in the No. 1 match.
Against the Horned Frogs (12-7), the Bears would battle hard, forcing three sets in two matches to push TCU to the edge. The exhibition match saw Dear and Kimberly Schnars fall 21-15, 21-16 to Jensyn Bledsoe and Jordan Terrall, before the Horned Frogs took the match's first point in the No. 4 match. Claire Dowle and Bridget Odmark won the first set 21-19, before Dunn and Rogers rallied to force a third set with a 21-17 win in the second. The TCU pair would pick up the win thanks to a 15-9 victory. The final match of the also went the distance, with Avery Arellano and Haven Hill taking the first set 21-19, before Hjembo and Pollnow extended the No. 2 match with a 21-15 win in the second set. The Horned Frogs would pick up the win as Arellano and Hill would edge out Hjembo and Pollnow 15-13 in the final set.
TCU would take the first match out of the break, when Sarita Mikals and Ariah Palter scored a 21-15, 21-13 win over Harry and South in the No. 5 slot. Elman and Ehather Schanrs would then get Central Arkansas on the board, taking down Jillian Bergeson and Shane Peters 21-11, 21-13 to improve to 4-0 on the season. The Horned Frogs would then close out the match with a win, as Amy Neal and Jaelyn Greene picked up a 21-15, 21-14, win over Nash and Tippett in the No. 1 match.
"I am very proud of our program for their performances this weekend," said UCA head coach Jeni Jones Chatman. "As a team and program we grew a lot this weekend. ULM put on a first class tournament with some great teams. We learned a lot this weekend, and are looking forward to getting back at it next week in practice. We will have another tough weekend of play next weekend, and we are looking for the opportunity to compete again."
The Beach Bears hit the road for Houston, Texas next weekend to take part in the Houston Baptist Beach Invitational. Central Arkansas will take on Houston Baptist on Thursday, Tulane and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday, and Texas A&M-Kingsville and seventh-ranked LSU on Saturday.
