Friday, March 17
Tucson, Ariz. / Bear Down Beach
10 a.m. CT / 9 a.m. MT
Southern Miss
5
vs
0
Arizona Christian
Golden Eagles Move to 9-6 After Opening Day of Arizona Invitational
3/17/2023 10:04:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
TUCSON, Ariz. – Southern Miss collected its ninth win of the season after splitting the opening day of competition at the Arizona Invitational. The Golden Eagles bested Arizona Christian 5-0 and fell 4-1 to No. 17 Arizona.
"Great weather and a great day for volleyball out in Arizona," said fourth-year head coach Shawn Taylor. "We hit flight delays and practiced in wind, rain and cooler temps than we expected, but it didn't really impact us and we came out ready to compete."
Game One – Southern Miss 5, Arizona Christian 0
The Golden Eagles (9-6, 0-0 Sun Belt) wasted no time collecting their seventh sweep of the year en route to grabbing the program's ninth win of the season.
"Glad to have a good team win all around against ACU," said Taylor. " I think that match set the tone for us to compete the weekend."
All five flights won in straight sets with the closest Firestorm resistance coming at the fifth pairing where Madison Cassidy and Ashlyn Rough defeated ACU 21-17 and 21-16, respectively.
Three pairings were able to keep Arizona Christian in the single digits in their opening sets: Ola Chudzik and Vanessa Hurnikova held their top flight opponents to six points in the first set. Reagan Sandlin and Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou and Hallie Phelan and Kai Norman each won their first set 21-9 at the third and four pairs, respectively.
Box Score
1. Aleksandra Chudzik / Vanessa Hurnikova (USM) def. Misty McCall / Railey Dykstra (ACU) 21-6, 21-13
2. Kellie Garraway / Taylor Pierce (USM) def. Riley Brown / Brianna Boeckman (ACU) 21-16, 21-11
3. Reagan Sandlin / Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou (USM) def. Haley Brown / Amaya Brown (ACU) 21-9, 21-15
4. Hallie Phelan / Kai Norman (USM) def. Brianna Beckler / Anna Kate Clark (ACU) 21-9, 21-12
5. Madison Cassidy / Ashlyn Rough (USM) def. Sydney Shaw / Katy Shockey (ACU) 21-17, 21-16
Game Two – No. 17 Arizona 4, Southern Miss 1
Southern Miss suffered its sixth loss on the year after falling to host and nationally-ranked Arizona. The Phelan/Norman pairing picked up the lone point for the Golden Eagles in a three-set comeback.
"Hallie and Kai dug deep to come out with the win against Arizona," said Coach Taylor. "They also did a great job of making in-game adjustments; it would have been easy for them to fold after the first set but they worked to level the match at a set apiece. They got down early in the third but again worked their way back. Both players did a great job of working to help each other. We also came up big from the service line late to put pressure on Arizona and eventually get the win.
Ola and Vanessa played great at the 1s. We were right there in both sets with an opportunity to win either one but just couldn't quite capitalize. They did do a great job of implementing things we've been working on the last couple of weeks, but credit to Arizona because if we made some little mistakes, they made us pay for them.
Taylor and Kellie also played an entertaining match. Those two make the opponent work for every point. I thought we could send it to three and give us a real good shot of picking up a team point at the 2s but Arizona was able to hold us off."
After losing the first set 21-10, Phelan and Norman stormed back to take set two 21-19 and finished off the Wildcats' fourth pair with a 15-13 third set. The point is the first over a ranked opponent since Norman paired with Carmen Sanchez Delgado to take down No. 11 Long Beach State's fifth pair on April 15, 2022, also in Tucson, Ariz.
Southern Miss did not fall without a fight as the first pair of Chudzik and Hurnikova fell by a combined seven points over two sets and Garraway/Pierce forced extra points at the second pairing's deciding set.
Box Score
1. Alex Parkhurst / Sarah Blacker (ARIZ) def. Aleksandra Chudzik / Vanessa Hurnikova (USM) 21-18, 21-17
2. Abby Russell / Hope Shannon (ARIZ) def. Kellie Garraway / Taylor Pierce (USM) 21-14, 23-21
3. Alana Rennie / Grace Cook (ARIZ) def. Reagan Sandlin / Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou (USM) 21-11, 21-10
4. Hallie Phelan / Kai Norman (USM) def. Kylee Fitzsimmons / Caroline White (ARIZ) 10-21, 21-19, 15-13
5. Annie Kost / Miranda Erro (ARIZ) def. Madison Cassidy / Ashlyn Rough (USM) 21-12, 21-13
Up Next
Southern Miss returns to action tomorrow, March 18, at 11 a.m. CT to take on (RV) Cal Poly and finishes the day at 1 p.m. CT against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi.
Poly is 4-12 after sweeping Corpus and Arizona Christian today and the Islanders from Corpus Christi finished 1-1 after downing Arizona 4-1, handing the Wildcats their third loss of the season while the Islanders moved to 11-6.
Links to follow the matches can be found at SouthernMiss.com.
"Great weather and a great day for volleyball out in Arizona," said fourth-year head coach Shawn Taylor. "We hit flight delays and practiced in wind, rain and cooler temps than we expected, but it didn't really impact us and we came out ready to compete."
Game One – Southern Miss 5, Arizona Christian 0
The Golden Eagles (9-6, 0-0 Sun Belt) wasted no time collecting their seventh sweep of the year en route to grabbing the program's ninth win of the season.
"Glad to have a good team win all around against ACU," said Taylor. " I think that match set the tone for us to compete the weekend."
All five flights won in straight sets with the closest Firestorm resistance coming at the fifth pairing where Madison Cassidy and Ashlyn Rough defeated ACU 21-17 and 21-16, respectively.
Three pairings were able to keep Arizona Christian in the single digits in their opening sets: Ola Chudzik and Vanessa Hurnikova held their top flight opponents to six points in the first set. Reagan Sandlin and Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou and Hallie Phelan and Kai Norman each won their first set 21-9 at the third and four pairs, respectively.
Box Score
1. Aleksandra Chudzik / Vanessa Hurnikova (USM) def. Misty McCall / Railey Dykstra (ACU) 21-6, 21-13
2. Kellie Garraway / Taylor Pierce (USM) def. Riley Brown / Brianna Boeckman (ACU) 21-16, 21-11
3. Reagan Sandlin / Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou (USM) def. Haley Brown / Amaya Brown (ACU) 21-9, 21-15
4. Hallie Phelan / Kai Norman (USM) def. Brianna Beckler / Anna Kate Clark (ACU) 21-9, 21-12
5. Madison Cassidy / Ashlyn Rough (USM) def. Sydney Shaw / Katy Shockey (ACU) 21-17, 21-16
Game Two – No. 17 Arizona 4, Southern Miss 1
Southern Miss suffered its sixth loss on the year after falling to host and nationally-ranked Arizona. The Phelan/Norman pairing picked up the lone point for the Golden Eagles in a three-set comeback.
"Hallie and Kai dug deep to come out with the win against Arizona," said Coach Taylor. "They also did a great job of making in-game adjustments; it would have been easy for them to fold after the first set but they worked to level the match at a set apiece. They got down early in the third but again worked their way back. Both players did a great job of working to help each other. We also came up big from the service line late to put pressure on Arizona and eventually get the win.
Ola and Vanessa played great at the 1s. We were right there in both sets with an opportunity to win either one but just couldn't quite capitalize. They did do a great job of implementing things we've been working on the last couple of weeks, but credit to Arizona because if we made some little mistakes, they made us pay for them.
Taylor and Kellie also played an entertaining match. Those two make the opponent work for every point. I thought we could send it to three and give us a real good shot of picking up a team point at the 2s but Arizona was able to hold us off."
After losing the first set 21-10, Phelan and Norman stormed back to take set two 21-19 and finished off the Wildcats' fourth pair with a 15-13 third set. The point is the first over a ranked opponent since Norman paired with Carmen Sanchez Delgado to take down No. 11 Long Beach State's fifth pair on April 15, 2022, also in Tucson, Ariz.
Southern Miss did not fall without a fight as the first pair of Chudzik and Hurnikova fell by a combined seven points over two sets and Garraway/Pierce forced extra points at the second pairing's deciding set.
Box Score
1. Alex Parkhurst / Sarah Blacker (ARIZ) def. Aleksandra Chudzik / Vanessa Hurnikova (USM) 21-18, 21-17
2. Abby Russell / Hope Shannon (ARIZ) def. Kellie Garraway / Taylor Pierce (USM) 21-14, 23-21
3. Alana Rennie / Grace Cook (ARIZ) def. Reagan Sandlin / Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou (USM) 21-11, 21-10
4. Hallie Phelan / Kai Norman (USM) def. Kylee Fitzsimmons / Caroline White (ARIZ) 10-21, 21-19, 15-13
5. Annie Kost / Miranda Erro (ARIZ) def. Madison Cassidy / Ashlyn Rough (USM) 21-12, 21-13
Up Next
Southern Miss returns to action tomorrow, March 18, at 11 a.m. CT to take on (RV) Cal Poly and finishes the day at 1 p.m. CT against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi.
Poly is 4-12 after sweeping Corpus and Arizona Christian today and the Islanders from Corpus Christi finished 1-1 after downing Arizona 4-1, handing the Wildcats their third loss of the season while the Islanders moved to 11-6.
Links to follow the matches can be found at SouthernMiss.com.
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