Thursday, April 24
Foley, Ala. / Foley Sports Tourism Sand Volleyball Complex
1:30 p.m.
Southern Miss
0
vs
5
(3) UNCW
Photo by: McDuffie Images,LLC 2025
Beach Volleyball Drops Opening Match of Sun Belt Tournament
4/24/2025 5:23:00 PM | Beach Volleyball
FOLEY, Ala. – Southern Miss beach volleyball (12-24) dropped its opening match of the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Beach Volleyball Championship to three-seed UNCW (18-7). The Seahawks shutout the Golden Eagles though Southern Miss forced third sets on courts four and five.
Laurel Dennis (Gulfport, Miss.) and Sadie McAda (Pleasanton, Texas) dropped the first point of the match to the Sun Belt's Pair of the Year, though they narrowly missed out on forcing a third set, falling 21-19 in the second.
Top flight and Sun Belt Second Teamers Madison Cassidy (Baton Rouge, La.) and Zuzanna Michalska (Warsaw, Poland) also took on a Sun Belt All-Conference First Team pair. The duo gave it all they could but fell 21-11 in the second set as UNCW picked up its second point of the match.
The Seahawks clinched the match with a two-set win at the threes but not before Carmen Sanchez Delgado (Málaga, Spain) and Jaden White (West Palm Beach, Fla.) nearly pulled off the first set upset before dropping the second.
It was the lower two flights where Southern Miss nearly broke through. Fifth pairing Kitija Martini Adamsone (Marupe, Latvia) and Giovanna Gurgel Bahia (Recife, Brazil) forced a third set on their court. The pair took set one 21-19 before UNCW responded to take set two 21-12. In the third set, the Golden Eagles took an early lead but were unable to hold off the Seahawks, who ran out to a 15-11 third set win.
Fourth pairing Jessica Fairly (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.) and Dylan Russell (Oklahoma City, Okla.) dropped their first set 25-23 but rebounded to win set two 21-18. In the third set, the pair did all it could but UNCW held on to its shutout effort in a 15-12 win in the deciding set.
Box Score
1 . LaPata, Gabby/Thompson, Sarah (UNCW) 2-0 Cassidy, Madison/Michalska, Zuzanna (USM) 21-15 21-11
2 . Sistrunk, Grace/Trimp, Lyvia (UNCW) 2-0 Dennis, Laurel/McAda, Sadie (USM) 21-16 21-19
3 . Schrock, Traci/Thompson, Annika (UNCW) 2-0 Sanchez Delgado, Carmen/White, Jaden (USM) 21-18 21-14
4 . Black, Tamsie/Puhala, Sophia (UNCW) 2-1 Fairly, Jessica/Russell, Dylan (USM) 25-23 18-21 15-12
5 . Folks, Maddy/Forbes, Hannah (UNCW) 2-1 Martini Adamsone, Kitija/Gurgel Bahia, Giovanna (USM) 19-21 21-12 15-11
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3*, 5, 4
Up Next
Southern Miss returns to the sand tomorrow at 10 a.m. against seven-seed College of Charleston as they open play in the contender's bracket. The Golden Eagles hope to survive and advance to set up a 1 p.m. match against four-seed Mercer.
A win against the Bears will give Southern Miss a 4:30 p.m. match time against either five-seed ULM or a rematch against UNCW. See below for a breakdown of the first day of matches.
Sun Belt Conference Beach Volleyball Championship
Thursday, April 24
Match 1 – (4) Mercer def. (5) ULM, 4-1
Match 2 – (2) Georgia State def. (7) College of Charleston, 4-1
Match 3 – (3) UNCW def. (6) Southern Miss, 5-0
Match 4 – (1) Coastal Carolina def. (4) Mercer, 3-2
Match 5 – (2) Georgia State def. (3) UNCW, 4-1
Friday, April 25
Match 6 – (7) College of Charleston) vs. (6) Southern Miss – 10 a.m.
Match 7 – (5) ULM vs. (3) UNCW – 11:30 a.m.
Match 8 – (4) Mercer vs. Match 6 winner – 1 p.m.
Match 9 – (1) Coastal Carolina vs. (2) Georgia State – 3 p.m.
Match 10 – Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner – 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 26
Match 11 – Match 9 loser vs. Match 10 winner – 10 a.m.
Championship Match – Match 9 winner vs. Match 11 winner – 1 p.m.
Laurel Dennis (Gulfport, Miss.) and Sadie McAda (Pleasanton, Texas) dropped the first point of the match to the Sun Belt's Pair of the Year, though they narrowly missed out on forcing a third set, falling 21-19 in the second.
Top flight and Sun Belt Second Teamers Madison Cassidy (Baton Rouge, La.) and Zuzanna Michalska (Warsaw, Poland) also took on a Sun Belt All-Conference First Team pair. The duo gave it all they could but fell 21-11 in the second set as UNCW picked up its second point of the match.
The Seahawks clinched the match with a two-set win at the threes but not before Carmen Sanchez Delgado (Málaga, Spain) and Jaden White (West Palm Beach, Fla.) nearly pulled off the first set upset before dropping the second.
It was the lower two flights where Southern Miss nearly broke through. Fifth pairing Kitija Martini Adamsone (Marupe, Latvia) and Giovanna Gurgel Bahia (Recife, Brazil) forced a third set on their court. The pair took set one 21-19 before UNCW responded to take set two 21-12. In the third set, the Golden Eagles took an early lead but were unable to hold off the Seahawks, who ran out to a 15-11 third set win.
Fourth pairing Jessica Fairly (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.) and Dylan Russell (Oklahoma City, Okla.) dropped their first set 25-23 but rebounded to win set two 21-18. In the third set, the pair did all it could but UNCW held on to its shutout effort in a 15-12 win in the deciding set.
Box Score
1 . LaPata, Gabby/Thompson, Sarah (UNCW) 2-0 Cassidy, Madison/Michalska, Zuzanna (USM) 21-15 21-11
2 . Sistrunk, Grace/Trimp, Lyvia (UNCW) 2-0 Dennis, Laurel/McAda, Sadie (USM) 21-16 21-19
3 . Schrock, Traci/Thompson, Annika (UNCW) 2-0 Sanchez Delgado, Carmen/White, Jaden (USM) 21-18 21-14
4 . Black, Tamsie/Puhala, Sophia (UNCW) 2-1 Fairly, Jessica/Russell, Dylan (USM) 25-23 18-21 15-12
5 . Folks, Maddy/Forbes, Hannah (UNCW) 2-1 Martini Adamsone, Kitija/Gurgel Bahia, Giovanna (USM) 19-21 21-12 15-11
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3*, 5, 4
Up Next
Southern Miss returns to the sand tomorrow at 10 a.m. against seven-seed College of Charleston as they open play in the contender's bracket. The Golden Eagles hope to survive and advance to set up a 1 p.m. match against four-seed Mercer.
A win against the Bears will give Southern Miss a 4:30 p.m. match time against either five-seed ULM or a rematch against UNCW. See below for a breakdown of the first day of matches.
Sun Belt Conference Beach Volleyball Championship
Thursday, April 24
Match 1 – (4) Mercer def. (5) ULM, 4-1
Match 2 – (2) Georgia State def. (7) College of Charleston, 4-1
Match 3 – (3) UNCW def. (6) Southern Miss, 5-0
Match 4 – (1) Coastal Carolina def. (4) Mercer, 3-2
Match 5 – (2) Georgia State def. (3) UNCW, 4-1
Friday, April 25
Match 6 – (7) College of Charleston) vs. (6) Southern Miss – 10 a.m.
Match 7 – (5) ULM vs. (3) UNCW – 11:30 a.m.
Match 8 – (4) Mercer vs. Match 6 winner – 1 p.m.
Match 9 – (1) Coastal Carolina vs. (2) Georgia State – 3 p.m.
Match 10 – Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner – 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 26
Match 11 – Match 9 loser vs. Match 10 winner – 10 a.m.
Championship Match – Match 9 winner vs. Match 11 winner – 1 p.m.
– #SMTTT –
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