NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) beach volleyball team defeated the University of New Orleans (UNO) Privateers (3-13) in a thrilling 3-2 decision on Thursday afternoon.
 
Knotted at 2-2 heading into the final match on the No.1 Court, Madison Seuzeneau and Julie Vujnovich found themselves down 1-0 after the first set and trailing 12-8 in the third and match-deciding set, but rallied to tie the set at 12-12. The duo then bounced back from a 13-12 deficit with three straight points for the win. UNO's Celeste Ramirez opened the door for the Badgers with a service error to tie the set 13-13 as SHC went on to end the contest with a Seuzeneau service ace followed by a UNO attack error by Kaitlin Grice.
 
Spring Hill 3, UNO 2
 
1. Madison Seuzeneau/Julie Vujnovich (SHC) def. Kaitlin Grice/Celeste Ramirez (UNO) 19-21, 21-16, 15-13
2. Dorina Klinger/Anna Tietjens (SHC) def. Brooklyn Frank/Samantha Uline (UNO) 22-20, 22-20
3. Lauren Levy/Cara Sander (UNO) def. Molly Griffin/Hannah Masoner (SHC) 21-19, 21-16
4. Sara Brodner/Caroline Herrera (SHC) def. Courtney Roblez/Milica Zmiric (UNO) 21-17, 21-16
5. Blessing Dunn/Madison Miller (UNO) def. Virginia Hicks/Catherine Milwee (SHC) 14-21, 25-23, 15-8
 
Order of finish: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
 
Following the match, SHC coach Shawn Taylor said, "I'm very happy to pull out a well contested win against UNO. To say our matches have been highly competitive would be an understatement. We've played them three times and every match has come down to the last few plays. Cat and Ginny started off on fire and did a great job of winning the serve-and-pass battle. Unfortunately, they missed serves in the 2^nd set and dropped a close one and they weren't able to recover the momentum in the 3^rd set.
 
"Caroline and Sara did a great job of being aggressive with the set. Once we got it dialed in they were able to put a lot of pressure on the other side. Molly and Hannah also started off hot, but as the match went on, they struggled with set location down the stretch. Dori and Annie did a great job behind the service line and were able to put themselves in good transition opportunities. Their huge win evened the team score at 2-2.
 
"Watching Madie and Julie drop the 1^st set was tough, but we knew we missed on a couple of plays. Starting the 2^nd set, we were able to get in a good side-out rhythm. In the 3^rd set we started off a little slow, but Julie tightened up on defense and made phenomenal digs. Without a doubt, her play behind the block was what allowed us to pull out the 3^rd set and ultimately the team victory."
 
The Badgers (8-11) will next play at the Pelican Classic hosted by Tulane University in Metairie, La., on Friday and Saturday.