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ULM Beach Volleyball Travels to Arizona for Six Weekend Matches

ULM Beach Volleyball Travels to Arizona for Six Weekend Matches

Beach Volleyball Mar 13
MONROE, La. – The ULM beach volleyball team returns to the court this weekend after a 10-day layoff to square off against Arizona Christian and No. 17 Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Arizona, on Thursday, March 14. The following afternoon, the Warhawks begin a two-day, four-match tournament hosted by the University of Arizona.
 
At the Arizona Invitational, ULM begins Friday play by facing New Mexico (11:00 a.m.) and No. 15 Arizona (1:30 p.m.) before concluding on Saturday with matches against North Florida (10:00 a.m.) and Arizona State (12:30 p.m.).
 
The Warhawks went head-to-head against New Mexico on March 1, earning a 4-1 victory. The Warhawks opened the day with a win by the No. 4 duo of Elizabeth Moreland and Allie Kemp, who downed Jaclyn Inclan and Emily Nenninger, 21-10, 21-14. Teammates Audrey Brooks and Bailey Smith pushed the ULM lead to 2-0 with a 21-15, 21-17 victory over Claire Nenninger and Abbey Wilson in the fifth pairing.
 
ULM rebounded from a setback to take the battle of No. 3 seeds as the CollegeBeachVB.com ranked duo of Catherine Griffith and Maile Sellers completed a 21-10, 21-15 win over Yasmin Tan and Morgan Schreckler. With the team victory clinched, ULM's Tamara Merseli and Kayla Gallant posted a 21-19, 21-8 win over the New Mexico duo of Joey Benson and Carly Beddingfield in the third pairing.
 
"Our team will begin our trip with duals against Arizona Christian and Grand Canyon," ULM head coach Sara Rishell said.  "Arizona Christian is hungry for a win, and teams like that are tough to play against.  Grand Canyon is a very high-level team, currently ranked No. 17 in the nation. They are very deep in their lineup, and have solid pairs from 1 through 5. Our team is anxious to compete against ranked teams in both Phoenix and Tucson.
 
"On Friday, match play will start against New Mexico, who we previously beat 4-1," added Rishell. "It is hard to beat a team twice, and I know that New Mexico is ready to play us again. Arizona, ranked 15th in the nation, along with Arizona State, who recently beat Grand Canyon, and North Florida will be very tough competitors. Our team has been working very hard at practice and in the weight room. They know the challenges that they are about to face, and I fully expect that we come back as a stronger team than when we left."
 
While the Warhawks (7-3) dropped their last two matches to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 4, they enjoyed a successful swing through the Lone Star State by picking up wins against New Mexico, Missouri Baptist, San Jose State and Texas A&M-Kingsville in succession on March 1-2.
 
In their last outing, the Warhawks suffered a 4-1 loss in the first match of the day and came up short in the second match by a 3-2 margin to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
The Islanders (3-1) established momentum as Abigail DeVido and Selina Marolf posted a 21-14, 21-17 victory over Gabby Love and Grace Convey in the clash of No. 1 pairings in the opening match. ULM bounced back as Catherine Griffith and Maile Sellers downed Madison Green and Rachel Young in a three-set battle in the second flight, 22-20, 18-21, 15-10.
 
Knotted at 1-1, A&M-Corpus Christi quickly slammed the door in the No. 3 pairings as Emma Coudon and Lael Ceriani produced a 21-18, 21-15 win over Tamara Merseli and Kayla Gallant for the second point. In the fourth flight, Kylie Kvam and Demi McInnis added a 21-11, 21-11 win over Elizabeth Moreland and Allie Kemp to secure the match victory.
 
Sam Dumity and Brooke Adkisson closed out the final point for the Islanders with a 21-17, 21-15 victory in the No. 5 pairings over Bailey Smith and Audrey Brooks.
 
ULM's duo of Griffith and Sellers has produced a combined record of 8-2 on court two this season while the pairing of Merseli and Gallant has posted an 8-2 mark on court three.
 
 
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