Golden Eagles Fall to No. 3 Florida State, No. 6 Cal Poly in Season Opener

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Two elite opponents were too much for the Southern Miss beach volleyball team in its first 2021 action, falling to No. 3 Florida State and No. 6 Cal Poly by 5-0 margins at the Seminole Beach Bash.

"It was great to have the opportunity to get out and compete against someone other than ourselves for the first time in almost a year," head coach Shawn Taylor said. "We wanted to challenge and push ourselves to get better this year and didn't have to wait long opening with two schools in the top-five."

Southern Miss kept the same lineup in each contest, utilizing three freshmen, including a duo of Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou and Kai Norman on the No. 4 court. Kaylie Beck joined senior Melanie Miller on No. 5.

"Overall, I thought we passed at a high level," Taylor said. "That's one of the areas we've really stressed improvement on the last few months. We need to do a little better on the 2nd and 3rd contact if we're going to compete with this caliber of teams. Tomorrow the level of competition remains high. We're looking forward to closing out our weekend and continuing to grow with each opportunity."

The Golden Eagles conclude play Sunday with No. 8 Loyola Marymount at 10:30 a.m. CT, followed by No. 18 Georgia State at 2 p.m.

Florida State 5, Southern Miss 0
1. Alaina Chacon/Molly McBain (FS) def. Kylie Grandy/Abbey Wilson (USM) 21-11, 21-10
2. Keara Rutz/Torrey Van Winden (FS) def. Breleigh Favre/Olivia Hepworth (USM) 21-10, 21-9
3. Sara Putt/Maddie Anderson (FS) def. Hallie Phelan/Haley Hop (USM) 21-13, 21-13
4. Liz Waters-Leiga/Payton Caffrey (FS) def. Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou/Kai Norman (USM) 21-18, 21-16
5. Avery Poppinga/Kate Privett (FS) def. Kaylie Beck/Melanie Miller (USM) 21-10, 21-6

Cal Poly 5, Southern Miss 0
1. Emily Sonny/Macy Gordon (CP) def. Kylie Grandy/Abbey Wilson (USM) 21-9, 21-16
2. Amy Ozee/Jayelin Lombard (CP) def. Breleigh Favre/Olivia Hepworth (USM) 21-18, 21-7
3. Vanessa Roscoe/Tia Miric (CP) def. Hallie Phelan/Haley Hop (USM) 21-9, 21-13
4. Delaney Peranich/Josie Ulrich (CP) def. Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou (USM) 21-16, 21-19
5. Piper Naess/Sam Strah (CP) def. Kaylie Beck/Melanie Miller (USM) 21-11, 21-10

Golden Eagles Fall to No. 3 Florida State, No. 6 Cal Poly in Season Opener

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Players Mentioned

Kaylie Beck

Breleigh Favre

Kylie Grandy

Olivia Hepworth

Haley Hop

Melanie Miller

Kai Norman

Hallie Phelan

Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou

Abbey Wilson