The Skyhawk beach volleyball team ended their season April 10 in a two-game series, losing both games 1-4 and 2-3.
Overall on the season, the Skyhawks went 3-19, ending the year on a 12-game losing streak. UTM’s last victory was a 4-1 win against Eckerd College March 8 in the Battle on the Bay tournament.
The Skyhawks were a youthful team, with eight underclassmen. The only player on the team with NCAA beach volleyball experience at the start of the season was junior Hannah Phillips, according to UTM Sports Information. The team as a whole is also young, as UTM just developed a beach volleyball team in March 2017.
Opening day in Tampa, March 1, had the Skyhawks going up against the University of Tampa first, followed by a match against Eckerd College. The Skyhawks were setback by the Spartans 5-0 but picked up a win against Eckerd in a 3-2 showing.
“It was really good for us to get out there and not only compete but to win our first match in school history today,” head coach Jaclynn Wilson said to Sports Information.
“The team showed no signs of first-match jitters and played at a high level throughout both matches. I couldn’t be more proud of our team for bringing home a win on the first day of the season.”
UTM generated wins at the No. 2, 3 and 4 pairings. Phillips and senior Brooke Gyori represented the Skyhawks at the No. 1 pair but were defeated by margins of 21-19 and 21-15. UTM was forced to forfeit its fifth matchup of the game, conceding a point to Eckerd.
The Skyhawks finished out the tournament the next day losing 5-0 to Coastal Carolina University and winning 3-2 against the University of Jacksonville.
Following the Tampa tournament, the Skyhawks traveled to Lakeland, Florida, to take on Florida Southern College in a double dual on March 5. However, the Mocs would pick up both wins by narrow scores 3-2.
Now sitting at 2-4, the Skyhawks moved on to St. Leo, Florida, to face St. Leo University in a double dual on March 6.
The pairing of Gyori and Phillips came back from behind to secure UTM’s first win in the opening game against St. Leo.
The No. 4 pairing of freshmen Jessica Reynolds and Lindsey Geurin also snagged a win, but ultimately the Skyhawks would drop both games and fall to 2-6 on the season.
UTM’s excursion in the sunshine state came to a close in the Battle on the Bay tournament in St. Petersburg.
On March 8, the opening day for the tournament, the Skyhawks were put up against two familiar opponents in Tampa and Eckerd. Similar to their previous tournament in Tampa, the Skyhawks split both games, falling to Tampa 1-4 and defeating Eckerd 4-1.
The second day of the tournament wasn’t kind to the UTM, as the Skyhawks were shutout 5-0 by both Arizona State University and Florida Gulf Coast University, dropping UTM’s record to 3-9.
The Skyhawks made their way back to Martin to host the first ever beach volleyball games to be hosted by UTM.
However, the Skyhawks were defeated by the University of Southern Mississippi in a double dual by 1-4 in both games.
With eight more games left in the season, the Skyhawks made stops in Conway, Arkansas to face Central Arkansas, Clarksville to battle Austin Peay and Florence, Alabama, to take on North Alabama. The Skyhawks went winless in this six-game stretch, getting shut out three times.
The Skyhawks closed out the season with double dual rematch against Austin Peay on April 10.
Individually, senior Megan Fair and sophomore Justine Walker led the team in wins, with both going 9-13. Fair and Walker both had identical records on the second and third pairings, going 2-4 and 7-9, respectively.
As a pairing, the No. 3 pair of Fair and Walker saw the most success, going 7-9.
The only pairing to not have a negative win/loss ratio was the No. 5 pairing of junior Gintare Mackeviciute and Geurin, who went 3-3.
The pairing of freshman Karen Scanlon and sophomore Kenzie Hinshaw saw the second-most win, going 4-12 as No. 2 pairing and 1-5 as the No. 3 pairing.
Statistics used come from UTM Sports Information.
