The Wayne State Wildcats beach volleyball team wrapped up their season at the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Small College Beach Championships over the weekend, winning three out of six games.
WSC came into the weekend with a 7-3 record and earned the 13 seed at the tournament. They were slated to face Texas A&M-Kingsville and Saint Leo (Fla.) on the first day of competition. The Wildcats were swept by both the Javelinas of Kingsville and the Lions of St. Leo.
All the matches against Kingsville were relatively close, with the Javelinas holding the edge over the Wildcats in each match. WSC’s Taya Beller and Allie Petry went down 21-19 and 21-16. Ella Myler and Brooke Peltz fell by the same scores in the same order, and Taylor Bunjer and Rhianna Wilhelm lost 21-18 and 21-14.
Against the fourth-seeded Lions, the Wildcats’ Jordan McCormick and Chanatee Robles faced a tough pairing and lost both matches 21-9. Myler and Peltz lost 21-14 and then 21-15. Brooklyn Kusler and Molly Romano were defeated by the scores of 21-13 and 21-11. Bunjer and Wilhelm were defeated as well, 21-10 and 21-7.
Day two was much kinder to the Wildcats, as they topped Erskine College (SC.) 3-0 and beat Emmanuel University (Ga.) 3-1.
Against the Flying Fleet of Erskine College, who was the 12 seed, the Wildcats cruised, with Beller and Petry starting the game of right with victories of 21-12 and 24-22. Myler and Peltz were taken to three sets, losing 21-17 in the first, but getting a reverse sweep in sets two and three, 21-17 and 15-12 respectively. Kusler and Romano closed out the match with 22-20 and 21-14 victories.
The Wildcats lost the first match against the Emmanuel Lions, with McCormick and Robles falling 21-18 and 21-15. Myler and Peltz took match two for the Wildcats, winning 21-8 and 21-17. Then Kusler and Romano went on to win 21-14 and 21-17. Bunjer and Wilhelm sealed the Wildcat victory, winning the fifth pairing matchup handily, 21-7 and 21-5.
The Wildcats ended up splitting day three, falling to the Spring Hill College (Ala.) Badgers 3-2 and then sweeping the Tritons of Eckerd College.
Beller and Petry lost in the top pairing matchup, 21-14 and then 21-16. They were avenged by the second pair, as McCormick and Robles went on to win 21-14 and 21-16. The Wildcats lost the next two matches, where Myler and Peltz fell 21-15 and 21-12, followed by Kusler and Romano getting beat by scores of 21-17 then 21-12. Bunjer and Wilhelm took the last match 21-11 and 21-12.
The Tritons were two seeds above WSC, but that didn’t scare the Wildcats. McCormick and Robles won match two 21-19 and 21-13, and match four was taken by a commanding Kusler and Romano, who won 21-16 then 21-8. Bunjer and Wilhelm wrapped up the tournament with set wins of 21-10 and 21-14.
The Wildcats end their season at 10-6 and look forward to the fall, when court volleyball is back in session.
