CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The top-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beach volleyball team opened its conference tournament in commanding fashion Wednesday, sweeping No. 4 HCU 3-0 on home sand at Water's Edge Park.
Hosting the tournament on their home courts, the Islanders capitalized on familiar conditions and needed just three complete courts to dispatch the Huskies, who earlier in the day defeated No. 5 New Orleans to reach the matchup. They did so dominantly to get their tournament campaign underway with a clean 3-0 win.
A&M-Corpus Christi struck first at the No. 4 flight, where
Mia Stevens and
Saskia Hernandez delivered a convincing 21-10, 21-17 straight-sets win to give the Islanders an early 1-0 lead. The advantage grew to 2-0 at No. 2 as Duda de Melo and
Millie Olsson outlasted a tight opening set before pulling away for a 22-20, 21-13 victory.
Kristin Bobay and
Madison Morrow secured the sweep at the top flight, closing out a 21-14, 21-15 win to seal the dual at 3-0.
Two additional matches were left unfinished following the clinch. At No. 3, Millie Berthou and
Bryce Ranney held a slim 24-22, 12-11 edge, while at No. 5,
Lizzie Denyer and
Ashlyn Rough led 24-22, 12-9.
With the victory, the Islanders advance to Thursday's winner's bracket semifinal, where they will face No. 2 Southeastern in the double-elimination tournament. A win will send them to Friday's title match set for 1 p.m.
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