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ULM Eliminated from Team Championship at AVCA Nationals

ULM Eliminated from Team Championship at AVCA Nationals

Beach Volleyball

GULF SHORES, Ala. --ULM dropped both of its matches in the AVCA Sand Volleyball National Championship and was eliminated from competition Friday.  The sixth-seeded Warhawks (7-6) dropped a 5-0 decision to No. 3 Florida State and were eclipsed by No. 4 USC in the elimination game.

“I'm so proud of our players, that in our first year as a program, they were able to secure the bid to the 6-team nationals,” head sand volleyball coach David Fischer said.

MATCH ONE - No. 3 Florida State 5, ULM 0

The Seminoles (12-0) handed ULM their only sweep of the season in the opening match of the tournament.  The Warhawks threatened a point at the top flight.  Tetiana Sukach and Zuzana Markova split a pair of 21-13 sets with Jace Pardon and Sarah Wickstrom before the top Seminole pair took the third set 18-16.

Michelle McNamee and Amy Grabiec played a competitive second set at the second flight, falling 21-16, 21-18 to Melanie Pavels and Julie Brown.

"Against a normal team, our ULM team played good enough to win at the top three flights, but Florida State is a great team. They outplayed us in all the lower divisions and took our top pair in a thriller where both teams had swings to end it,” Fischer said.

MATCH TWO - No. 4 USC 3, ULM 2

Facing elimination, ULM dropped a thrilling 3-2 decision to No. 4 USC (16-7). The Warhawks swept at the forth flight forced third sets at both the second and third flights, splitting them.

“Going toe to toe with USC this evening- that is something I'll never forget. Blanca Ocana was inspirational with her leadership at the fourth flight. Her partner Kylie, Parks, played loud, aggressive, and steady. Their sweep of [USC's Kati Duddridge and Brooke Fornier] let everyone know we weren't going down without a fight,” Fischer said.

While it dropped the top and bottom flights in 2-0 sweeps, ULM put all of the pressure on the Trojans after picking up a win at the third position.

Marcela Araya has been playing out of her mind lately, and after coach Patrick Hiltz gave her and Maria Garcia some strategy changes after an ugly second set, they crushed it in the third,” Fischer said.

With the match even at 2-2, all of the pressure fell to Grabiec and McNamee and their Trojan opponents in the second flight.

“Amy and Michelle rebounded from a first set loss to take a commanding 6-2 lead in the second. They kept the pressure on and pushed USC's [Katie Fuller and Cinnamon Sary] to a tie-break, with the entire USC-ULM dual on the line. USC just stepped it up, to their credit. They're a great team,” Fischer said.

Grabiec and McNamme will be in action to take on the third place finisher from the “Best of the Rest” pool play at 2 p.m. Saturday for a bid in Sunday's single-elimination pairs tournament. Sukach and Markova are already in Sunday's round of 16.

MATCH ONE - No. 3 Florida State 5, ULM 0

1. Jace Pardon/Sarah Wickstrom (FSU) def. Zuzana Markova/Tetiana Sukach (ULM), 21-13, 13-21, 18-16
2. Julie Brown/Melanie Pavels (FSU) def. Amy Grabiec/Michelle McNamee (ULM), 21-16. 21-18
3. Aurora Davis/Katherine Plessy (FSU) def. Marcela Araya/Maria Garcia (ULM), 21-12, 21-14
4. Mallory Kiley/Fatma Yildrim (FSU) def. Blanca Ocana/Kylie Parks (ULM), 21-18. 21-15
5. Katherine Pelliterri/Stephanie Pelliterri (FSU) def. Iren Marinova/Alannah Cullum (ULM), 21-7, 21-5

MATCH TWO - No. 4 USC 3, ULM 2

1. Kirby Burnham/Stevi Robinson (USC) def. Zuzana Markova/Tetiana Sukach (ULM), 21-11, 21-18
2. Katie Fuller/Cinnamon Sary (USC) def. Amy Grabiec/Michelle McNamee (ULM), 21-16, 17-21, 15-4
3. Marcela Araya/Maria Garcia (ULM) def. Eve Ettinger/Bria Russ (USC), 22-20, 9-21, 15-7
4. Blanca Ocana/Kylie Parks (ULM) def. Kati Duddridge/Brooke Fournier (USC), 22-20, 22-20
5. Sam Hirschmann/Natasa Siljkovic (USC) def. Alannah Cullum/Iren Marinova (ULM), 21-18, 21-10

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