GULF SHORES, Ala.— The Colorado Mesa University beach volleyball team split a pair of Friday Challenge Round matches but is still alive for the NCAA Division II title here at the AVCA Small College Beach Championships, which continued Friday here at Gulf Shores Public Beach.
The Mavericks, now 21-10 on the season, swept Florida Southern, 4-0 in the morning but then were downed by top-seeded Concordia University Irvine, 3-0 in the early afternoon.
Despite the loss, the Mavs have qualified for Saturday's Gold Bracket and will play Tampa in the quarterfinal round on Saturday morning at 8:40 a.m. CDT (7:40 a.m. Mountain).
CUI, which improved to 25-9 on the season, will also be in that bracket and received a bye into the semifinal round.
CMU, seeded fourth, is now 3-1 in the 3-day tournament.
Colorado Mesa 4, Florida Southern 0
In the match against the Mocs, who fell to 21-12, the Mavericks won straight set decisions at No. 2 and No. 5 and received a 3-set (21-15, 17-21, 15-11) win on Court 3 from
Barett Nolan and
Ania Swartzendruber to close out the dual.
Moments later and before the word got around that the Mavs had clinched the dual, the Mavs' No. 1 duo of
Ellie Ask and
Gracyn Spresser finished off Ashli Mckenny and Emma Winford, 21-18, 19-21, 15-10.
CMU's No. 4 pair of
Jessica Passi and
Taylor Scherff was also just two points away from winning, leading Hailey Carefoot and Isabella Muti, 20-22, 21-18, 13-10.
The Mavs' other two wins were much more straight forward.
Riley Daugherty and
Lizzy Hood beat Nicole Eden and Sydney Melcher, 21-18, 21-13 at No. 2 while
Lucy Kaufman and
Lauren Rohlwing got past Mary Olivia Muti and Hayley St. Martin by 21-19 and 21-16 margins.
The Mocs are the eighth seed in the 18-team tournament.
CUI 3, Colorado Mesa 0
The Golden Eagles, who improved to 25-9, won the No. 1, 3 and 4 matches in straight sets and were leading at No. 5 as well.
However, Daugherty and Hood split sets with Kora Nordin and Gabrielle Reinking at No. 2 as the Maverick pair won the second set, 21-19 after dropping the first, 21-13.
Friday's match was the second meeting of the season between the teams, who finished second and third at last year's national tournament. CUI won a Mar. 19 decision by a 4-1 score in Irvine, California.
Saturday
The Mavs will play 2-time defending national champion Tampa and No. 2 seed in the quarterfinal round of the Gold Bracket on Saturday morning at 8:40 a.m. CDT (7:40 a.m. Mountain). Should they win, they would advance to the semifinal round for the fourth straight year and would play No. 3 seed Palm Beach Atlantic at 12:10 p.m. CDT (11:10 a.m. Mountain).
CUI will face the winner of Texas A&M-Kingsville and Spring Hill in the other semifinal.
The title match is slated for 2:30 p.m. CDT (1:30 p.m. Mountain) on Saturday afternoon.
