Baton Rouge, Louisiana – The Central Arkansas Beach Bears returned to action with a pair of matches at LSU's Beach Invitational on Saturday, taking on #15 Arizona and Jacksonville State. Central Arkansas would fall to the Wildcats 4-1, before rebounding with a 5-0 sweep of the Gamecocks.
Against Jacksonville State (1-18), the Beach Bears continued their trend of strong first-half play, with
Kimberly Schnars and
Stephanie Pollnowtaking the exhibition match 21-12, 21-5, and
Mackenzie Dear and
Shelby Holmes defeating Ashley Clingan and Maddie Cloutier 21-18, 21-17 in the number five contest to move to 7-2 on the season.
Colene Hamilton and
Kristine Hjembo would finish off the first half, scoring a 20-22, 21-10, 15-11 victory against Grace Jarnagin and Bethany Randall to push their record to 8-1 for the season.
UCA continued to roll after the break, with
Delaney Driver and
MC Rogers winning the number three match 21-18, 21-11, improving to 6-3, and
Jessica Martinez and
Aly Brinkley taking the number two match against Kaylie Milton and Hannah Kirk 21-13, 21-5 for their second win of the season.
Haley Tippett and
Megan Nash closed out the match for Central Arkansas, moving to 7-2 on the year with a 21-19, 21-13 win over Katie Will and Sadie Anderson in the number one contest.
In the day's first match, Schnars and Pollnow opened things with a 21-19, 21-19 defeat of Caroline Cordes and Chelsey Harris in the exhibition match, bumping their tally to 5-0 on the season, before Arizona (11-8) got a 21-11, 21-18 win from Brooke Burling and Jonny Baham at the fives and a 21-14, 21-13 win from Mia Mason and Makenna Martin at the fours to head into the break up 2-0.
The Wildcats would add a point in the number three tilt, as Hailey Devlin and Stephany Perdue scored a 21-16, 21-16 win, before Martinez and Brinkley got the Bears on the board. The Wildcats' Olicia Hallaran and Kacey Nady would take the first set 21-19, before an injury forced them to withdraw, ceding the point to Central Arkansas. Natalie Anselmo and Olivia Macdonald would wrap things up for the Wildcats in the number one match, scoring a 21-16, 21-15 victory.
Central Arkansas will remain on the road next weekend, heading to New Orleans, Louisiana to take part in Tulane's Green Wave Invitational. The Beach Bears will take on #11 Grand Canyon at 11:00 AM on Friday, the host Green Wave, who are currently receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches' Poll, at 5:00 PM on Friday, #10 LSU at 8:00 AM on Saturday, and New Orleans at 12:30 PM that afternoon.
