By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament champion University of Tennessee at Martin beach volleyball squad battled this afternoon but fell by a 3-0 margin to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
The Skyhawks conclude their historic 2023 campaign with a 27-9 record, shattering not only the school record but also the conference mark for most victories in a single season.
Making its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, UT Martin put up a fight but could not get past the Islanders (25-9), who won the Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles.
At the No. 2 slot, Kambree Lucas/Olivia O’Keefe narrowly fell in the opening set before falling 21-19, 21-11. Haeleigh Paulino/Jenna Vallée owned set point in the first stanza but fell victim to a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi comeback at No. 4 as they were defeated 26-24, 21-10.
The second wave then began as Dylan Mott/Logan Wallick (18-21, 12-13) and Kayla Carrell/Ryan Rednour (18-21, 11-14) were embroiled in tight decisions at No. 1 and No. 5, respectively. However, the Islanders managed to clinch the final point at No. 3 as Lucy Kaufman/Addy Vaughn fell by a 21-9, 21-10 score.
Today’s result caps off a season where the Skyhawks registered a school-record 13-match winning streak, defeated their first two ranked opponents in program history, swept the OVC regular season and tournament champions for the first time in league history and received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top-20 poll for four consecutive weeks.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information