HOUSTON, Texas – Central Arkansas beach volleyball will get a fresh start in 2023, as they travel down to the Lone Star State for the Third Coast College Classic in Houston.
UCA is coming off a 17-16 record in 2022 and will be under new leadership in 2023. Cassidi Sabile took over the head coaching vacancy in the summer of 2022. Stabile was most recently an assistant at Stephen F. Austin, where she helped the team to a 13-16 record in 2022, including a win over UCA. The Bears will have several fresh faces on this year's roster, including Charlie Tidwell, who spent the fall with the UCA Volleyball team. In addition, there are three freshmen new to the roster in Grace Austin, Madelyn White, and Anna Linskey.
Central Arkansas is under first-year head coach Cassidi Stabile, who joined the program in the summer of 2022 after being an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin. Stabile finished her playing career switching from indoor to beach at Florida Institute of Technology.
The Bears will face some fierce competition in Houston this weekend, starting with Houston Christian. UCA has faced the Huskies many times over the years, with the Huskies leading the series 7-5. The last time these two squads faced off was in 2021, where they each took a match in a neutral site.
Texas A&M- Corpus Christi had a spectacular 2022. The Islanders boasted a 21-13 record and made it all the way to the NCAA Tournament, where they ultimately fell 3-0 to TCU. Texas A&M-CC has really been a thorn in UCA's side the last few times the two teams played. While the last time UCA faced the Islanders was back in April of 2019, the Islanders have taken the last three matchups to even the all-time series record at 3-3.
UAB is the team that UCA is the least familiar with out of all of the teams in this weekend's field. UAB has taken both matchups all-time, both coming in the 2021 season. The Blazers finished 2022 with a 17-18 record, facing off with Texas A&M-CC, TCU, and HCU, so the Blazers will be very familiar with this weekend's field. UCA will become more acquainted with UAB, as they head down to Birmingham in April for the Blazer Beach Bash.
TCU had the most success out of this group in 2022, winning a game in the NCAA tournament in 2022. The Horned Frogs finished the season with a 39-5 and a 13-0 record at home. The Frogs have also been a thorn in Central Arkansas' side, as the Bears have never been able to beat them in four tries. The last matchup between the two was one of TCU's 13 home wins, a 5-0 win in March of 2022.
UCA will open the Spring 2023 slate with Houston Christian on Saturday, February 25th at 11:00 a.m., then will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 3:00 p.m. Then on Sunday, February 26th, the Bears will take on UAB at 8:00 a.m. and close things out with TCU at 2:00 p.m. You can keep up with final scores on twitter at @UCABeachVB.
