YOUNGSVILLE, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beach volleyball program captured the Southland Conference regular season championship Sunday and punctuated its title run finishing a perfect 6-0 in league play at the conference midseason tournament.
The Islanders (13-8, 6-0 SLC) clinched the title with a 5-0 victory in the opening dual of the day, leaving no doubt before closing the weekend with a second 5-0 win in the afternoon finale to cap an undefeated conference season. They only dropped two points through the slate, out-dueling their league opponents 28-2 this year.
Overall, the program improves to been 46-1 against Southland opponents in regular season matches since 2019 and have now won three of the four awarded regular season championships.
In the morning matchup, the Islanders wasted little time asserting control as the No. 2 pair of Maria Duda Fernandes De Melo and
Millie Olsson struck first with a 21-16, 21-17 victory.
Lizzie Denyer and
Ashlyn Rough followed with a gritty three-set comeback on court four, bouncing back from an opening-set loss to win 18-21, 21-18, 17-15 and push the lead to 2-0.
The championship-clinching point came from the top of the lineup, where
Kristin Bobay and
Madison Morrow outlasted their opponents in a marathon second set to secure a 21-13, 33-31 win at No. 1, sealing both the dual and the Southland Conference regular-season title.
With the title secured, the Islanders continued to pile on.
Bryce Ranney and Mille Maxwell Berthou added a 21-17, 21-18 victory at No. 3, while
Mia Stevens and
Saskia Hernandez closed out a three-set battle at No. 5, 21-19, 19-21, 15-9, to complete the sweep.
Playing with the championship already in hand, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi did not let up in the final dual of the tournament, posting another 5-0 result to cap an unbeaten conference campaign.
Fernandes De Melo and Olsson once again set the tone from the No. 2 position, dominating 21-9, 21-12 for the opening point. Denyer and Rough followed with a steady 21-16, 21-18 win on court four, and Bobay and Morrow clinched the dual at No. 1 with a 21-16, 21-15 decision.
The Islanders kept the momentum rolling as Stevens and Hernandez battled through a tight first set before pulling away for a 24-22, 21-7 win at No. 5. Ranney and Berthou capped the day with a hard-fought three-set victory at No. 3, 21-17, 19-21, 15-13, completing the second sweep.
With the pair of victories, A&M-Corpus Christi secures the regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed for the SLC Tournament which they will host April 22-24.
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