MARTIN, Tenn. – More history was made today in the Ohio Valley Conference Beach Volleyball Championship finals as the University of Tennessee at Martin hoisted the trophy for the second straight season following a 3-0 sweep of Morehead State.
The victory capped off a true undefeated run through OVC play as the Skyhawks followed a 10-0 regular season with three sweeps in the league’s championship event this weekend. UT Martin is now 27-8 and will enter next week’s NCAA Tournament having not dropped a set since April 8.
The Skyhawks started the day with the reliable outcomes of their No. 4 and No. 5 pairings as they both ended the tournament with a perfect 3-0 marks. The No. 5 squad of Kayla Carrell/Ryan Rednour earned the first point of the match after a hard-earned 21-17, 21-19 win. Haeleigh Paulino/Jenna Vallée outlasted their competitors by a 21-17, 22-20 margin at No. 4, resulting in a 2-0 UT Martin advantage.
The No. 2 duo of Kambree Lucas/Olivia O’Keefe finished the job for the Skyhawks, polishing off the victory with a 21-19, 21-13 triumph that sent the UT Martin players into a celebration dogpile.
Dylan Mott/Logan Wallick (18-21, 19-18 at No. 1) and Lucy Kaufman/Addy Vaughn (18-21, 18-14 at No. 3) were trending towards third-set tiebreakers at the time that the match was clinched.
Following the match, Lucas/O’Keefe were named 2023 OVC Championship Most Valuable Pair and were joined on the OVC All-Tournament Team by Mott/Wallick. Today’s match-clinching point was earned by Lucas/O’Keefe while Mott/Wallick sealed the Skyhawks’ tournament-opening victory over Tennessee Tech.
The NCAA Beach Volleyball Committee unveiled the 17-team bracket for the 2023 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship today as the University of Tennessee at Martin will open the tournament against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday, May 3 in Gulf Shores, Ala.
For the first time this year, the NCAA Tournament field expanded from 16 to 17 teams, adding one more match to the event. The Skyhawks were selected as the No. 16 seed and will take on the No. 17 seed Islanders for the right to advance into the single-elimination, 16-team bracket that runs from Friday, May 5 through Sunday, May 7. The winner of the UT Martin/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi match will face top-seeded UCLA at 9 a.m. on Friday on ESPNU.
As the automatic qualifier out of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Skyhawks (27-8) will make their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. After becoming the first team to ever go undefeated (10-0) during the league’s regular season, UT Martin knocked off Morehead State in the OVC Championship finals yesterday to clinch their postseason berth. The Skyhawks have received votes in the last three American Volleyball Coaches Association Collegiate Beach Coaches Top 20 Polls and recently had nine players recognized as All-OVC, including OVC Championship Most Valuable Pair Kambree Lucas and Olivia O’Keefe.
Texas A&M Corpus-Christi (24-9) is also taking part in its second straight NCAA Tournament as the Islanders defeated Boise State in the Southland Conference championship match last Monday on its home sand. Much like UT Martin, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi has set a school record for victories in 2023 and won the SLC regular season crown – having not lost a conference match in two years (24 consecutive victories). The No. 4 pairing of Kela Moreno and Shea Slusser were named Pair of the SLC Tournament while Chloe Tome (Newcomer of the Year) and Kristin Bobay (Freshman of the Year) also garnered major SLC postseason awards.
For the eighth consecutive year, the entire 2023 NCAA Tournament will be held at Gulf Place, hosted by the City of Gulf Shores, University of Alabama at Birmingham and Gulf Shores | Orange Beach Sports and Events. For more information on the event, click on the Championship Central webpage here: https://www.ncaatickets.com/championship/beach-volleyball/champinfo.