NEW ORLEANS – The University of Central Arkansas beach volleyball team returned to the courts Saturday for the final day of the NOLA Classic. The Beach Bears battled hard, but were defeated by the Spring Hill College, 3-2. UCA fell to 9-8 on the season, while SHC improved to 6-4.
 
In the No. 1 position, Aly Brinkley and Colene Hamilton lost to Payton Gidney and Kassandra Fairly in two sets, 21-12 and 21-17. Faith Hasness and Evelyn Griffith only needed two sets in the No. 2 spot to claim victory over Mikayla Boyer and Sarah Senft, 21-18 and 21-17. Julia Oravec and Kelsie Sager came out in dominant fashion for the first set of their No. 3 position match with Leanne Sorel and Allison Weimer. Oravec and Sager won the first set 21-12, but were unable to hold on as Sorel and Weimer claimed victory in the next two sets, 21-19 and 15-11.
 
Makenna Schmitt and Shannon Stone fell in two sets at the No. 4 spot to Brooke Borgmeyer and Natalie Bonner, 21-8 and 21-12. Kayla Cook and Payton Sproule claimed the final point for the Beach Bears in the No. 5 position as they defeated Linnea Beger and Kyla Shappell, 21-10, 18-21, and 15-8. In the exhibition match, Annie Berry and Mary Galloway claimed victory in the first set against Courtney Faulkner and Mary Coye Ward, 21-17. Bria Garmon joined Berry for the second set and found a win against Faulkner and Ward, 21-16.
 
The Beach Bears return to action on Friday, March 26 for the Bear Challenge hosted by Missouri State. First serves are scheduled for noon.
 
From the Coach – Head Coach Autumn Erickson
"Despite the losses, we played much tougher against ranked opponents this week. Wish we could have come out with the win against Spring Hill, but they are a great program and we will have another opportunity to play them in a couple weeks. It's always great to learn something from a tough loss, so we will hit the sand at a faster tempo this week."
 
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