MONROE, La. – The ULM beach volleyball team closes out the regular season at the Blazer Beach Bash, hosted by UAB, Friday and Saturday. The Warhawks meet Mercer at 9 a.m. and UAB at 11 a.m. Friday and North Alabama at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The Warhawks went 1-3 last weekend at the Southern Miss Beach Invitational, winning the final dual of the tournament, 3-2, against New Orleans.
ULM had a couple of different pairings on Saturday at the Southern Miss Beach Invitational.
Audrey Brooks and
Kayla Gallant teamed up for the first time on court one, going 1-1 on the day with a three-set win over Spring Hill's Kassandra Fairly and Jessica Fairly before falling to UNO's Lucie Pokorna and Ania Esarte in three sets. The new court two duo of
Rylin Adams and
Julia Blazek also went 1-1, defeating SHC's Mikayla Boyer and Natalie Bonner in three sets before dropping the final match of the day to UNO's Trinity Jackson and Alexa Spartz in two sets.
Elizabeth Moreland and
Brooke Hoven have compiled the most wins of any pair for the Warhawks this season, putting up 12 victories. The duo has won five matches each on courts three and four, going 5-1 on court four. The pair was 0-1 on court two and 1-2 on court three at Southern Miss.
Kaitlyn Nowak and
Avery Reynolds are 4-6 together, including two wins on court four. The duo was 2-2 last weekend, picking up the two court four wins over Southern Miss' Hallie Phelan and Reagan Sandlin and UNO's Liz Gialanella and Ivana de Carvalho Peixe.
Abbey Bufkin and
Abigail Elder have posted an 8-11 mark as a team, including seven wins on court five. The pair has won five of their last seven matches after going 1-2 last week, earning a win over UNO's Taylore Louviere and Valerie Vujnovich in two sets.
Delaney Evans and
Tamsie Black also saw action on court five last week, dropping a three-set match to Tulane's Savka Popovic and Haley Gibson on Friday.
Friday's dual against Mercer marks the second meeting with the Bears this season. ULM earned a 4-1 win at the Gamecock Grand Slam in Columbia, South Carolina, on March 11. Brooks and Blazek earned a court one win over Lexi Polychones and Olivia Boeve in two sets. Gallant and Adams won on court two over Sydney Benson and Nicole O'Mara in two sets.
Madison Gray and Nowak won on court four in three sets against Jordan Morris and Alyssa Scoggins. Bufkin and Elder won by sweep on court five over Hana Robertson and Kathryn Corbett. Mercer is 4-21 on the season and has lost six consecutive duals entering play on Friday.
Friday's meeting with UAB is the first between the Conference USA foes this season. The Blazers are 11-16 this season after going 3-1 last week at the GSU Diggin' Duals at Georgia State. The Blazers beat Austin Peay and Tampa, 4-1, while sweeping Chattanooga, 5-0. UAB lost the finale to No. 13 GSU, 4-1. The Blazers have won six of their last eight matches.
Saturday's regular season finale vs. North Alabama is the first meeting this season between the Warhawks and Lions. UNA is 12-10 on the season and is coming off a midweek sweep of UT Martin, 4-1 and 3-2. It is the first weekend tournament for UNA since going 4-0 at the Eastern Kentucky tournament on April 1-2.
