Beach Volleyball Gets First Win of Season at Third Coast Challenge

Friday, February 20

Houston, Texas / Third Coast

10 a.m.

Southern Miss

Saint Mary's

Beach Volleyball Gets First Win of Season at Third Coast Challenge

2/20/2026 7:47:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

Box Score vs. Saint Mary's Box Score vs. Tarleton State

HOUSTON – Southern Miss beach volleyball took to the sand for the first time this season at the Third Coast Challenge and notched its first victory of the 2026 campaign over Tarleton State while falling to Saint Mary's.

Saint Mary's 3, Southern Miss 2
The Golden Eagles took the first point of the dual at the second paring with Zuzanna Michalska (Warsaw, Poland) and Abby Lewis (The Woodlands, Texas) winning in three sets. The duo forced the deciding set with a 21-19 comeback second set and went on to outlast SMC's 2s 18-16 in the third.

The Gaels got on the board with another three-set thriller as Iustina Corcoz (Bucharest, Romania) and Margarita Grigoreva (Moscow, Russia) forcing the third set with a 25-23 second set victory. The final set went down to the wire with SMC winning 17-15.

SMC picked up the next two points of the dual to clinch but Laurel Dennis (Gulfport, Miss.) and Sadia McAda (Pleasanton, Texas) eking out another three-set victory at the top flight, the duo's first-ever start together at the first position.

Southern Miss 4, Tarleton State 1
Tarleton took the first point of the day at the fourth pair but that was the Texans' last as Southern Miss took the next four to claim the Golden Eagles first win of the season. Fifth pair Y-Nhu Do (Cary, N.C.) and Lillie Johnson (Canyon Lake, Texas) got Southern Miss the third point of the dual with third pair Jaden White (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Kitija Martini Adamsone (Marupe, Latvia) added on to the win.

All five games were decided in two sets between the Golden Eagles and Texans. Dennis and McAda finished the day 2-0 leading the Golden Eagles as the top pairing on the sand.

Up Next
Southern Miss closes out the Third Coast Challenge with two more duals tomorrow. Action begins at Noon against No. 3 Cal Poly (2-0) and concludes with a 4 p.m. tilt against the host Houston Christian Huskies (1-1). Live statistics are available through StatBroadcast with links available at SouthernMiss.com and usm.statbroadcast.com.

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