Wednesday, May 4
Gulf Shores, Ala.
12 p.m.
UT Martin
vs
USC
SKYHAWK BEACH VOLLEYBALL SET FOR FIRST NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE TOMORROW AGAINST NO. 1 USC ON ESPNU
5/3/2022 8:10:00 AM | Beach Volleyball
GULF SHORES, Ala. – The University of Tennessee at Martin is one of 16 teams in the hunt for a national championship in beach volleyball as the NCAA Tournament begins tomorrow at the Gulf Beach Place facility. The Skyhawks will play the fourth of eight matches on Wednesday's docket, taking on No. 1 USC at 12 p.m. live on ESPNU.
When UT Martin hits the sand tomorrow, beach volleyball will be the sixth Skyhawk sport to square off against a national No. 1 ranked squad in the past decade. Other instances include equestrian (six times, last occurring on Feb. 12, 2022 against Oklahoma State), baseball (twice, last occurring on April 6, 2021 at Vanderbilt), men's basketball (Nov. 25, 2016 at Kentucky), football (Nov. 8, 2014 at Mississippi State) and women's basketball (Nov. 17, 2012 against Baylor in Hawaii).
UT Martin departed campus shortly after 1 p.m. on Monday, catching a flight out of Nashville, Tenn. bound for Pensacola, Fla. The Skyhawks will hold their official team practice from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. today, getting accustomed to the surroundings in Gulf Shores.
Representing the Ohio Valley Conference, UT Martin enters Wednesday's match with a 17-8 record – matching the previous four season's worth of combined wins. Head coach Jaclynn Wilson and the Skyhawks have won five of their last six contests – sweeping all three matches during last week's OVC Championship event by 3-2 margins.
The No. 4 tandem of Kayla Carrell/Addison Conley pace UT Martin with a 24-1 record on the season as the All-OVC second team honorees have garnered nine more wins than any other Skyhawk duo. The OVC Tournament's Most Valuable Pair will put their school-record 14-match winning streak on the line against the Trojans.
Competing at No. 1 for UT Martin will be Karen Scanlon/Logan Wallick, each of whom tallied All-OVC accolades this season (Scanlon first team, Wallick second team). That pair just joined forces prior to the OVC Championship tournament but owns 31 wins between them in 2022.
OVC Freshman of the Year and All-OVC first teamer Dylan Mott will team up alongside All-OVC second team honoree Hannah Phillips out of the No. 2 slot. Like the Skyhawks' No. 1 pair, these two have only competed together in an official capacity three times but have combined for 28 victories this spring.
Fresh off a clutch match-clinching victory in the OVC Championship finals against Morehead State, All-OVC second teamers Kambree Lucas/Haeleigh Paulino will occupy UT Martin's No. 3 position in the lineup. That duo is 5-2 on the season and have dialed up 33 combined victories between the two.
Brooke Kuball/OVC All-Freshman Addy Vaughn will represent the Skyhawks at the No. 5 slot. Those two are 13-6 as a team this spring and are coming off a pair of huge wins in three tries at the OVC Championship tournament – including a victory in the finals against Morehead State.
A beach volleyball Olympic gold medalist at the 2000 Sydney Games, Dain Blanton is in his third season as head coach at USC, sporting a 68-10 overall record. That includes a 32-1 mark and a current 31-match winning streak in 2022, a season after the Trojans claimed their fourth national championship in school history.
Tina Graudina/Hailey Harward are 27-1 at the No. 1 spot this season for USC while Megan Kraft/Sammy Slater are a team-best 23-0 at No. 2. Delaynie Maple/Julia Scoles account for a 25-1 mark in the No. 3 slot while the No. 4 position has been primarily manned by Audrey Nourse/Nicole Nourse (21-4). Mollie Ebertin/Sunny Villapando have registered a team-best 17-5 record out of the No. 5 position for the Pac-12 Conference champions.
All NCAA Championship opening round duals will be nationally televised on ESPNU while ESPN+ will provide live coverage of each court at the link above. For more information on the NCAA Tournament, visit the Championship Central link at the top of the webpage.
When UT Martin hits the sand tomorrow, beach volleyball will be the sixth Skyhawk sport to square off against a national No. 1 ranked squad in the past decade. Other instances include equestrian (six times, last occurring on Feb. 12, 2022 against Oklahoma State), baseball (twice, last occurring on April 6, 2021 at Vanderbilt), men's basketball (Nov. 25, 2016 at Kentucky), football (Nov. 8, 2014 at Mississippi State) and women's basketball (Nov. 17, 2012 against Baylor in Hawaii).
UT Martin departed campus shortly after 1 p.m. on Monday, catching a flight out of Nashville, Tenn. bound for Pensacola, Fla. The Skyhawks will hold their official team practice from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. today, getting accustomed to the surroundings in Gulf Shores.
Representing the Ohio Valley Conference, UT Martin enters Wednesday's match with a 17-8 record – matching the previous four season's worth of combined wins. Head coach Jaclynn Wilson and the Skyhawks have won five of their last six contests – sweeping all three matches during last week's OVC Championship event by 3-2 margins.
The No. 4 tandem of Kayla Carrell/Addison Conley pace UT Martin with a 24-1 record on the season as the All-OVC second team honorees have garnered nine more wins than any other Skyhawk duo. The OVC Tournament's Most Valuable Pair will put their school-record 14-match winning streak on the line against the Trojans.
Competing at No. 1 for UT Martin will be Karen Scanlon/Logan Wallick, each of whom tallied All-OVC accolades this season (Scanlon first team, Wallick second team). That pair just joined forces prior to the OVC Championship tournament but owns 31 wins between them in 2022.
OVC Freshman of the Year and All-OVC first teamer Dylan Mott will team up alongside All-OVC second team honoree Hannah Phillips out of the No. 2 slot. Like the Skyhawks' No. 1 pair, these two have only competed together in an official capacity three times but have combined for 28 victories this spring.
Fresh off a clutch match-clinching victory in the OVC Championship finals against Morehead State, All-OVC second teamers Kambree Lucas/Haeleigh Paulino will occupy UT Martin's No. 3 position in the lineup. That duo is 5-2 on the season and have dialed up 33 combined victories between the two.
Brooke Kuball/OVC All-Freshman Addy Vaughn will represent the Skyhawks at the No. 5 slot. Those two are 13-6 as a team this spring and are coming off a pair of huge wins in three tries at the OVC Championship tournament – including a victory in the finals against Morehead State.
A beach volleyball Olympic gold medalist at the 2000 Sydney Games, Dain Blanton is in his third season as head coach at USC, sporting a 68-10 overall record. That includes a 32-1 mark and a current 31-match winning streak in 2022, a season after the Trojans claimed their fourth national championship in school history.
Tina Graudina/Hailey Harward are 27-1 at the No. 1 spot this season for USC while Megan Kraft/Sammy Slater are a team-best 23-0 at No. 2. Delaynie Maple/Julia Scoles account for a 25-1 mark in the No. 3 slot while the No. 4 position has been primarily manned by Audrey Nourse/Nicole Nourse (21-4). Mollie Ebertin/Sunny Villapando have registered a team-best 17-5 record out of the No. 5 position for the Pac-12 Conference champions.
All NCAA Championship opening round duals will be nationally televised on ESPNU while ESPN+ will provide live coverage of each court at the link above. For more information on the NCAA Tournament, visit the Championship Central link at the top of the webpage.
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