TAVARES, Fla.— The Colorado Mesa University beach volleyball team capped a record-setting season as the national runners-up at the AVCA Small College Beach Championships on Sunday.
The Mavericks defeated Concordia University Irvine by a 3-0 margin in the semifinals in the morning but were downed by Tampa, 3-0 in the Championship Bracket semifinal as their bid for a repeat national title came up just short.
The Mavericks finished the season with a 19-8 record, surpassing last year's title-winning team, which went 16-10, for the most wins in school-history. They went 5-1 in this weekend's 14-team tournament and set a new program-record with the seventh consecutive win on Sunday morning against the CUI Golden Eagles before the winning streak was snapped by the Tampa Spartans, who won the title for the third time in the fifth edition of the tournament.
The Mavs also had an award-winning duo as redshirt seniors
Macie Lachemann and
Holly Schmidt were recognized as AVCA Division II Beach All-Americans as the No. 1 pair on the top-three placing teams.
Schmidt also earned her career as the winningest player in CMU history with 48 career victories, two more than Lachemann, junior
Sabrina VanDeList and redshirt
Tye Wedhorn.
Meanwhile, CMU No. 2 pair
Hahni Johnson and
Savannah Spitzer finished the season with a 24-8 record to set the new Maverick single-season record for wins. They ended the season on a 9-match winning streak and went 24-8 overall, one more win than VanDeList and Wedhorn, who finished 23-8.
Johnson and Spitzer were tabbed as AVCA All-Americans last year.
On Sunday morning, the Mavs received wins on Courts 2, 3 and 4 as Johnson and Spitzer won 21-14, 21-17 over Isabella Bush and Ashleigh Souza.
Meanwhile,
Jada Hall and
Gracyn Spresser delivered the clinching point with a 17-21, 21-15, 15-13 thriller over Tatum Smith and Hailee Ryan on Court 3 after VanDeList and Wedhorn dominated Eva Preweitt and Kelissa Lemoine, 21-10, 21-10 on Court 4.
The other two matches were in the third set and were left unfinished when Hall and Spresser clinched the dual.
Tampa won the afternoon dual with victories at No. 1, 3 and 4 although the Mavericks No. 5 pair of
Savannah Ott and
Hailey Peters had won the opening set 21-15 and were just one point behind (13-12) in the second set when the Spartans clinched the dual.
Colorado Mesa 3, CUI 0
1.
Macie Lachemann/
Holly Schmidt (CMU-BVB) vs. Sara Ostojic/Hannah Phair (CUI) 21-16, 14-21, 11-13, unfinished
2.
Hahni Johnson/
Savannah Spitzer (CMU-BVB) def. Isabella Bush/Ashleigh Souza (CUI) 21-14, 21-17
3.
Jada Hall/
Gracyn Spresser (CMU-BVB) def. Tatum Smith/Hailee Ryan (CUI) 17-21, 21-15, 15-13
4.
Sabrina VanDeList/
Tye Wedhorn (CMU-BVB) def. Eva Preweitt/Kelissa Lemoine (CUI) 21-10, 21-10
5.
Savannah Ott/
Hailey Peters (CMU-BVB) vs. Makena Houston/Carly Moreno (CUI) 20-22, 21-13, 3-11, unfinished
Match Notes:
CUI 19-14
Colorado Mesa 19-7
AVCA Small College Championships - Gold Bracket Semifinal
Tampa 3, Colorado Mesa 0
1. Julia Oswald/Payton Brunick (UT) def.
Macie Lachemann/
Holly Schmidt (CMU-BVB) 21-10, 21-12
2.
Hahni Johnson/
Savannah Spitzer (CMU-BVB) vs. Cassidy Ehrie/Leah Williams (UT) 18-21, 12-17, unfinished
3. Hailey Wolfe/Nevaeh Wolfe (UT) def.
Jada Hall/
Gracyn Spresser (CMU-BVB) 21-15, 21-18
4. Keely Hamilton/Madison Brunick (UT) def.
Sabrina VanDeList/
Tye Wedhorn (CMU-BVB) 21-14, 21-13
5.
Savannah Ott/
Hailey Peters (CMU-BVB) vs. Kalli Cors/Alivia Horn (UT) 21-15, 12-13, unfinished
Match Notes:
Tampa 21-13
Colorado Mesa 19-8
AVCA Small College Championships - Gold Bracket Championship Final
