CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas beach volleyball team is all set to open its spring 2024 season starting Friday. The Beach Bears open their campaign with a gauntlet of talented teams in the first weekend, facing off against Houston Christian, TCU, LSU, and Washington.
UCA will look to improve upon its 8-20 2023 season, and they bring back several impact players from a year ago in Madelyn White, Anna Collums, Payton Sproule, Anna Linskey, Naya Tan, and Katie Atkinson. UCA is adding some proven talent this season in transfers Madalyn Bass from Missouri State and Brooke Kuball from UT Martin, as well as Emmie Tidwell, who was on the indoor team this past fall. The Bears also welcome in three freshmen, one from the Natural State in Ella Weilert from Fayetteville, and two out of state newcomers in Audrey Cathcart from Scottsdale, Arizona, and Liliana Irizary from Tampa, Florida. With a blend of veteran presences and some fresh faces, the Bears will hope to see some success against some highly regarded programs this spring.
The Beach Bears start off the season on Friday morning against the Houston Christian Huskies. Coincidentally, UCA started out its 2023 season against the Huskies. HCU finished 2023 with a 17-18 record, with wins over No. 10 Stanford, ULM, Southeastern Louisiana, as well as Nicholls and San Jose State in the Southland Conference Tournament. UCA won three of the first three matchups between the two teams, but HCU has controlled the series since, winning eight of the last 10 matchups, including last season in Houston. UCA look to start off their season on a positive note, as well as to draw closer in the all-time series.
UCA will then face the No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs to close the action on Friday. The Horned Frogs are coming off of a historic 2023, boasting a 37-3 record and falling just short in the National Semifinals against USC. TCU picked up right where they left off last year, with the pair of Hailey Hamlett and Anhelina Khmil won the National Championship at the AVCA Collegiate Beach National Pairs Championships this fall, the Frogs are not short on talent heading into 2024. TCU faced something of a Murderer's row in 2023, winning 19 matches against ranked opponents in 22 opportunities. The Frogs have won all five matchups against UCA all-time, including wins in the past three seasons.
UCA opens up Saturday's action against No. 6 LSU, one of the teams that the Bears did not play a season ago. The Tigers finished last season with a 27-13 record, losing in the NCAA quarter finals to four-seeded Florida State. The Bayou Bengals did boast wins over FSU, Florida Atlantic, Loyola Marymount, Washington, and South Carolina. LSU has won all four matchups in history against UCA, most recently a 5-0 win in Baton Rouge in the 2022 season.
UCA wraps up action on its opening weekend against the No. 15 Washington Huskies. Washington finished last season with a 21-15 mark, boasting key wins against South Carolina, Oregon, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Arizona State, and Portland. UW ended their season with a loss to the eventual national champion USC Trojans in the PAC-12 Tournament. This will be the first matchup between the Bears and Huskies ever, so this should be a great opportunity for UCA to see where they're at against a highly thought of program.
UCA will take on Houston Christian on Friday, February 23rd at 11:00 a.m. and close Friday's action against TCU at 3:00 p.m. The Bears then face off against LSU on Saturday, February 24th at 9:00 a.m. and then Washington at 3:00 p.m.
To keep up with all the action this weekend and all season long, follow the Beach Bears on Twitter/X at @UCABeachVB
