CONWAY – On a gorgeous day at the Beach Bear Sand Courts, the University of Central Arkansas beach volleyball program upended the University of Tennessee at Martin twice, winning both matches 5-0 Thursday afternoon.

UCA (4-4) rallied behind the home faithful to shutdown the Skyhawks early and often. Throughout the entire 10 matches, the Bears dropped just two sets and picked up eight total straight-set wins.

UCA 5, UT MARTIN 0 (Match 1)
 

• Jessica Martinez and Kellen Dunn got the Bears off on the right foot with a 21-11, 21-12 victory over the Skyhawks No. 4 pairing. It was the second win of the year for the UCA duo.
• Kelsie Sager and Faith Hasness continued to stay hot through the opening month of competition. The combo defeated the UT Martin No. 5 pairing 21-17, 21-14.
• Senior leader Haley Tippett and Colene Hamilton continued their dominance at the No. 1 spot. The Bear couple earned a hard-fought 21-19, 21-19 victory over UTM's Brooke Gyori and Hannah Phillips.
• The most dominant duo of the day for Central Arkansas was Aly Brinkley and Mackenzie Dear. The experienced pair dominated the Skyhawks No.2's by a final score of 21-9, 21-14.
• In the only match to go three sets in the opener, Kimmy Schnars and Elleson Dunagin battled back for a 17-21, 21-15, 15-11 victory in the No. 3 slot.

UCA 5, UT MARTIN 0 (Match 2)

• Keeping the combinations the same, Sager and Hasness earned a victory after a Skyhawk player was forced to resign from the competition due to an injury.
• The top-duo of Tippett and Hamilton were not messing around in the second match. They cruised past the UTM No. 1 pairing 21-11, 21-13 to improve to 7-1 on the young season.
• The Brinkley/Dear pairing was strong yet again, knocking off the Skyhawks 21-17, 21-10. The couple has now powered the record back to .500 (4-4).
• Dunagin and Schnars again needed three sets to dispatch the stingy UT Martin No. 3 pair. The UCA combination outlasted the Skyhawks 19-21, 21-19, 15-8 to improve their record to 3-2 this season.
• Needed a bounce-back week, Dunn and Martinez stepped up in a big way in Match 2. The easily handled UT Martin 21-17, 21-7 to improve their total to 3-5 in 2019.

QUOTES ON THE WINS FROM HEAD COACH JENI JONES CHATMAN
"It was a perfect day for our home opener," Jones Chatman said. "The fan and student support was awesome! Our week of training and film work showed and it paid off with our pairs. Our communication and error percentages were improved. Looking forward to getting better this week and each day better than before.
HITTING THE BEACH
The Bears will return to action April 5 at the ULM Warhawk Beach Challenge in Monroe, La. UCA will battle it out with UL Monroe, Houston Baptist and New Orleans in the two-day tournament. For all things UCA Beach Volleyball, follow us on Twitter @UCABeachVB and on Instagram @UCABeachVBall.