University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Friday, April 15
Tucson, Ariz. / Bear Down Beach
1 P.M.
Southern Miss
at
No. 17 Arizona
Beach Volleyball Heads West for Two Days at the Arizona Invitational
4/14/2022 6:00:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss makes its final tournament regular season tournament appearance of 2022 at the Arizona Invitational.
"The energy has been good coming off back to back home weekends," said Southern Miss head coach Shawn Taylor. "We had a great week of training and looking forward for opportunities to implement some of those things we worked on in matches."
Last Time Out
The Golden Eagles return to action after a 3-1 record at the Southern Miss Beach Invitational II, finishing 7-2 at home in 2022 after two weekends. Southern Miss posted victories over C-USA opponent ULM, the program's first C-USA win, Central Arkansas and Spring Hill. The Black & Gold lost narrowly to the Green Wave of Tulane, 2-3, just missing a perfect weekend.
At the conclusion of the weekend, Southern Miss recognized three graduating players, Breleigh Favre, Olivia Hepworth and Melanie Miller. The program now holds an overall winning record in friendly sand, sitting at 17-16 after last weekend.
Meet the Matchups
No. 17 Arizona Wildcats
Southern Miss travels to Tucson, Ariz. for four matches against some of the country's top opponents. The Black & Gold's weekend begins against the homestanding Wildcats. The Sand Cats are led by seventh-year head man Steve Walker. Walker sports a 127-51 in the desert, spending his entire tenure as head coach as UA's coach.
In 2021, Walker & Co. finished 22-6 before falling in the second round of the PAC-12 Tournament. The 2022 season has seen the squad regress slightly, entering the weekend 15-8 and 3-3 in conference play. The Sand Cats are also 8-2 at home this season and are ranked 17th in the most recent AVCA Beach Volleyball Poll.
The Wildcats are 6-1 against teams that have faced Southern Miss this season while the Golden Eagles are just 3-4. Common foes include Santa Clara, Houston Baptist, Cal Poly, Cal and Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. Arizona defeated Santa Clara in two contests while Southern Miss finished winless in its one match.
The Wildcats faced Houston Baptist twice, winning both. Southern Miss took the only match of the season against the HBU Huskies. Both teams suffered losses against Cal Poly while Arizona defeated Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. Southern Miss would also fall to TAMU-CC previously this year.
"Arizona is a program we don't know much on aside from their history and quality," said Taylor. "The weather should be great in the desert. It's a new challenge and we're ready for it."
The Friday match marks the first time the two programs meet on the sands. The two squads face off at 11 a.m. local time, 1 p.m. CT.
No. 11 Long Beach State Beach
The Golden Eagles get a rematch against the Beach, previously falling 0-5 at Pepperdine's Malibu Classic. Since the March 17th match, the Beach has enjoyed a 10-2 record.
Southern Miss looks to even the overall series at one apiece, with a victory this weekend. Mike Campbell's Beach squad enters ranked 11th after overcoming a 3-8 start to the season. In his seven year tenure in Long Beach, Campbell has posted a 126-70 record.
"Long Beach State will be a great retest for us," Taylor said, previewing the Beach. "We struggled to match their level out in California earlier this season. We've continued to work on our lineup and little things that should help earn more points."
Southern Miss and Long Beach State face off at 2 p.m. local time, 4 p.m. CT.
Stephen F. Austin
The second day of contests features two new opponents, the first being the Ladyjacks of Stephen F. Austin. Travelling to Tucson, Ariz. from Nacogdoches, Texas, Stephen F. Austin enters with an 11-11 record in 2022.
Stephen F. Austin is led by third-year head coach Alex Luna who sports a 23-23 record in the Oldest Town in Texas. In 2022, the team started 7-2 in February and has faltered down the stretch leading into this weekend.
The Ladyjacks are 3-9 against common foes of the Golden Eagles, while Southern Miss sports a record of seven wins and five losses against the same teams. SFA has played Houston Baptist, Nicholls, ULM, Loyola Marymount, UAB, Tulane, LSU, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Central Arkansas and Texas A&M – Kingsville.
Previewing the Ladyjacks, Taylor said, "SFA is a newer program with a rich history on the indoor side. We've had a lot of common opponents but haven't crossed paths with them yet."
The two teams square off in Tucson at high noon CT, 10 a.m. local time.
Cal State Bakersfield
The Golden Eagles' Grand Canyon State exhibition concludes against the Roadrunners. CSUB enters 9-11 under Cesar Benatti, who enters his sixth season in Bakersfield holding a 41-72 record in that time.
The team is 0-5 against common foes that Southern Miss has managed to finish 1-3 against. These opponents are Pepperdine, Houston Baptist, Long Beach State and Cal Poly.
"Cal State Bakersfield has a longer running history in collegiate beach," said Taylor. "They too have several common opponents but we've yet to see them."
The Ladyjacks and Golden Eagles finish the tournament at 2 p.m. CT, noon local time.
Streaming Options
This weekend's matches will not be live streamed, but stats will be provided by Arizona. Links to each match can be found on the Southern Miss Beach Volleyball schedule at SouthernMiss.com.
Up Next
After a weekend out west, the Golden Eagles return to Hattiesburg before finishing the season with a double header against Tulane in New Orleans.
For updates, scores and more, follow Southern Miss Beach Volleyball on Twitter @SouthernMissBVB, Instagram @southernmissbvb or at SouthernMiss.com.
"The energy has been good coming off back to back home weekends," said Southern Miss head coach Shawn Taylor. "We had a great week of training and looking forward for opportunities to implement some of those things we worked on in matches."
Last Time Out
The Golden Eagles return to action after a 3-1 record at the Southern Miss Beach Invitational II, finishing 7-2 at home in 2022 after two weekends. Southern Miss posted victories over C-USA opponent ULM, the program's first C-USA win, Central Arkansas and Spring Hill. The Black & Gold lost narrowly to the Green Wave of Tulane, 2-3, just missing a perfect weekend.
At the conclusion of the weekend, Southern Miss recognized three graduating players, Breleigh Favre, Olivia Hepworth and Melanie Miller. The program now holds an overall winning record in friendly sand, sitting at 17-16 after last weekend.
Meet the Matchups
No. 17 Arizona Wildcats
Southern Miss travels to Tucson, Ariz. for four matches against some of the country's top opponents. The Black & Gold's weekend begins against the homestanding Wildcats. The Sand Cats are led by seventh-year head man Steve Walker. Walker sports a 127-51 in the desert, spending his entire tenure as head coach as UA's coach.
In 2021, Walker & Co. finished 22-6 before falling in the second round of the PAC-12 Tournament. The 2022 season has seen the squad regress slightly, entering the weekend 15-8 and 3-3 in conference play. The Sand Cats are also 8-2 at home this season and are ranked 17th in the most recent AVCA Beach Volleyball Poll.
The Wildcats are 6-1 against teams that have faced Southern Miss this season while the Golden Eagles are just 3-4. Common foes include Santa Clara, Houston Baptist, Cal Poly, Cal and Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. Arizona defeated Santa Clara in two contests while Southern Miss finished winless in its one match.
The Wildcats faced Houston Baptist twice, winning both. Southern Miss took the only match of the season against the HBU Huskies. Both teams suffered losses against Cal Poly while Arizona defeated Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. Southern Miss would also fall to TAMU-CC previously this year.
"Arizona is a program we don't know much on aside from their history and quality," said Taylor. "The weather should be great in the desert. It's a new challenge and we're ready for it."
The Friday match marks the first time the two programs meet on the sands. The two squads face off at 11 a.m. local time, 1 p.m. CT.
No. 11 Long Beach State Beach
The Golden Eagles get a rematch against the Beach, previously falling 0-5 at Pepperdine's Malibu Classic. Since the March 17th match, the Beach has enjoyed a 10-2 record.
Southern Miss looks to even the overall series at one apiece, with a victory this weekend. Mike Campbell's Beach squad enters ranked 11th after overcoming a 3-8 start to the season. In his seven year tenure in Long Beach, Campbell has posted a 126-70 record.
"Long Beach State will be a great retest for us," Taylor said, previewing the Beach. "We struggled to match their level out in California earlier this season. We've continued to work on our lineup and little things that should help earn more points."
Southern Miss and Long Beach State face off at 2 p.m. local time, 4 p.m. CT.
Stephen F. Austin
The second day of contests features two new opponents, the first being the Ladyjacks of Stephen F. Austin. Travelling to Tucson, Ariz. from Nacogdoches, Texas, Stephen F. Austin enters with an 11-11 record in 2022.
Stephen F. Austin is led by third-year head coach Alex Luna who sports a 23-23 record in the Oldest Town in Texas. In 2022, the team started 7-2 in February and has faltered down the stretch leading into this weekend.
The Ladyjacks are 3-9 against common foes of the Golden Eagles, while Southern Miss sports a record of seven wins and five losses against the same teams. SFA has played Houston Baptist, Nicholls, ULM, Loyola Marymount, UAB, Tulane, LSU, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Central Arkansas and Texas A&M – Kingsville.
Previewing the Ladyjacks, Taylor said, "SFA is a newer program with a rich history on the indoor side. We've had a lot of common opponents but haven't crossed paths with them yet."
The two teams square off in Tucson at high noon CT, 10 a.m. local time.
Cal State Bakersfield
The Golden Eagles' Grand Canyon State exhibition concludes against the Roadrunners. CSUB enters 9-11 under Cesar Benatti, who enters his sixth season in Bakersfield holding a 41-72 record in that time.
The team is 0-5 against common foes that Southern Miss has managed to finish 1-3 against. These opponents are Pepperdine, Houston Baptist, Long Beach State and Cal Poly.
"Cal State Bakersfield has a longer running history in collegiate beach," said Taylor. "They too have several common opponents but we've yet to see them."
The Ladyjacks and Golden Eagles finish the tournament at 2 p.m. CT, noon local time.
Streaming Options
This weekend's matches will not be live streamed, but stats will be provided by Arizona. Links to each match can be found on the Southern Miss Beach Volleyball schedule at SouthernMiss.com.
Up Next
After a weekend out west, the Golden Eagles return to Hattiesburg before finishing the season with a double header against Tulane in New Orleans.
For updates, scores and more, follow Southern Miss Beach Volleyball on Twitter @SouthernMissBVB, Instagram @southernmissbvb or at SouthernMiss.com.
Players Mentioned
/ Beach Volleyball
/ Beach Volleyball
/ Beach Volleyball
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