MONROE, La. – The seventh-seeded ULM beach volleyball team opens play in the Conference USA Championship at 10:30 a.m. Thursday when they meet second-seeded FIU at the John Hunt Park Sand Volleyball Complex in Huntsville, Alabama.
It is the second straight season for ULM to participate in a conference tournament, after participating in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Championship last year, also in Huntsville. The Warhawks opened with FIU, falling 4-1, before dropping a consolation bracket match to Southern Miss, 4-1, to end the season.
The winner of Thursday morning's match will play again at 3 p.m. Thursday against the winner of No. 3 seed Georgia State and No. 6 seed Southern Miss. The losers of the two matches meet at 9 a.m. Friday in an elimination match.
The Warhawks (10-20 overall) enter the C-USA Championship after a week off. ULM went 1-2 at the Blazer Beach Bash at UAB from April 15-16.
After shaking things up at the top of the lineup, ULM has found some success. The pairing of
Audrey Brooks and
Kayla Gallant is 4-1 on court one and
Julia Blazek and
Rylin Adams are 4-1 on court two in the final five duals of the regular season.
Brooks and Gallant won all three matches at the Blazer Beach Bash, defeating Rachel Tam and Adriana Pereira of UAB, 16-21, 21-14, 15-12, Olivia Boeve and Lexi Polychrones of Mercer, 21-13, 21-13, and Natalie Kordt and Jelena Girod of North Alabama, 21-13, 21-14. Their only loss over the last five duals came against New Orleans in three sets on April 9.
Blazek and Adams also won all three matches at the Blazer Beach Bash, sweeping Dylynn Otte and Jenna Gathright of UAB, 21-15, 22-20, Sydney Benson and Nicole O'Mara, 21-10, 21-15, and Mackenzie Martin and Catie Ladner of North Alabama, 25-23, 21-14. Their only loss as a pair was also to UNO on April 9.
Adams and Gallant are tied for the most individual wins on the team this season with 14. Gallant is the all-time wins leader for the Warhawks with 73 career wins.
Brooke Hoven and
Elizabeth Moreland lead ULM with 12 wins as a pair this season. The duo lost all three matches at the Blazer Beach Bash, falling in two sets to UAB and Mercer and three sets to UNA. They have lost six of their last seven matches entering the C-USA Championship.
Kaitlyn Nowak and
Avery Reynolds have five wins together since getting paired up on March 27 at the LSU Beach Invitational. The pair went 1-2 on court four at the Blazer Beach Bash, picking up a 21-16, 18-21, 15-12 win over Mercer's Ellie Miller and Alyssa Scoggins on April 15.
Abbey Bufkin and
Tamsie Black teamed up on court five at the Blazer Beach Bash, going 1-2 with a 21-12, 21-17 win over Jordan Morris and Kethryn Corbett of Mercer. It was the first time the duo had played together since March 4.
Links to live video and stats of the Conference USA Championship are available on the beach volleyball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.
