BATON ROUGE, La. – With a perfect 6-0 Southland Conference record, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beach volleyball program won the inaugural SLC regular season championship on Sunday after beating New Orleans 3-0 and Spring Hill 3-0 at the Tiger Beach Challenge.
It's the second championship in two seasons for the Islanders (15-8, 6-0 SLC), who are the reigning SLC Tournament champions. A&M-Corpus Christi will look to defend its tournament title as the No. 1 seed at the 2023 conference tournament, which the program will host April 21-23 at Water's Edge Park.
The Islanders have now won 25 consecutive regular season matches against Southland Conference opponents dating back to 2019. The championship comes after the Islanders were predicted to win it in the league's first preseason poll this year.
Due to weather conditions, the matches were shortened as two courts were left unfinished after the Islanders had already clinched 3-0 in both. The morning match against the Privateers featured wins at courts three, four, and five to cap the undefeated league record for the Islanders.
The duo of redshirt junior
Shea Slusser and sophomore
Kela Moreno topped both New Orleans and Spring Hill in straight sets. They went 3-1 over the weekend on court five, including notching a three-set victory over #5 LSU on Saturday. Flight three of sophomore
Jade Bennett and junior
Tori Johnson also went 2-0 on the day without dropping a set.
Freshman
Maria Duda Fernandes de Melo and sophomore
Hannah Doyle paired on court four and beat New Orleans 21-13, 21-16. Freshman
Kristin Bobay and graduate
Chloe Tome swept Spring Hill 21-16, 21-18 in the number two spot.
The championship will be celebrated next weekend when the Islanders play in their home tournament, the Conni & Jay Wise Islander Classic, at Water's Edge Park. Play will be on Friday and Saturday, where the Islanders will also honor seniors
Kiley Lewis,
Giuliana Poletti Corrales,
Ashlyn Power, and Slusser.
A&M-Corpus Christi 3, New Orleans 0
1. Esarte, Ania/Ozaeta, Maria (UNO) (Unf.) Poletti Corrales, Giuliana/Lewis, Kiley (AMCC) 24-26
2. Jackson, Trinity/Spartz, Alexa (UNO) (Unf.) Tome, Chloe/Bobay, Kristin (AMCC) 13-21, 21-17, 4-7
3. Johnson, Tori/Bennett, Jade (AMCC) def. Volpi, Hannah/Vujnovich, Valerie (UNO) 23-21, 24-22
4. Doyle, Hannah/Fernandes De Melo, Maria Duda (AMCC) def. Baumgart, Serena/Zecchin, Rita (UNO) 21-13, 21-16
5. Moreno, Kela/Slusser, Shea (AMCC) def. Carvalho Peixe, Ivana/Echeverri, Valentina (UNO) 21-13, 21-16
A&M-Corpus Christi 3, Spring Hill 0
1. Fairly, Kassandra/Fairly, Jessica (SHC) (Unf.) Poletti Corrales, Giuliana/Lewis, Kiley (AMCC)
2. Tome, Chloe/Bobay, Kristin (AMCC) def. Boyer, Mikayla/Bell, Jaylyne (SHC) 21-16, 21-18
3. Johnson, Tori/Bennett, Jade (AMCC) def. Shappell, Kyla/Beger, Linnea (SHC) 21-17, 21-17
4. Borgmeyer, Brooke/Hardouin, Elizabeth (SHC) (Unf.) Doyle, Hannah/Fernandes De Melo, Maria Duda (AMCC)
5. Moreno, Kela/Slusser, Shea (AMCC) def. Weinzapfel, Emily/Mascari, Lily (SHC) 21-11, 21-17
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