BATON ROUGE, La. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) Sandy Badgers beach volleyball team finished play at the Tiger Beach Challenge hosted by Louisiana State University (LSU at Mango's Beach Volleyball Club on Sunday by falling 5-0 to the No. 20 Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Owls (12-6), but bouncing back for a 3-2 victory over the University of New Orleans (UNO) Privateers.
 
Following the weekend of competition, SHC head coach Shawn Taylor was pleased with his team's effort versus top level squads. "We concluded a weekend of high level beach volleyball," he said. "We fell 5-0 to FAU but felt like we competed well. Julie and Gid had an exciting three-set match that went down to the wire. They came out on the wrong side, but it was incredible volleyball to watch and some of the very best I've seen any Badgers play."
 
Taylor was particularly impressed with the way his team attacked the final match of a difficult 48 hours. "We were fortunate to grind out a 3-2 win versus UNO," he said. "The team was pretty spent. I'm very proud of how we gutted it out. Three matches went the distance and we were able to score two points out of those. Those included wins from Cat and Taylor at the 4s and Senft and Bilotti at the 2s."
 
#20 Florida Atlantic University 5, Spring Hill College 0
1. Carly Scarborough/Amanda Silva (FA) def. Julie Vujnovich/Payton Gidney (SH) 19-21, 21-11, 15-12
2. Gabrielle Dischler/Jessalyn Kinlaw (FAU) def. Sarah Senft/Brittany Bilotti (SHC) 21-10, 22-20
3. Erica Brok/Megan Mcgrath (FAU) def. Allison Weimer/Caroline Herrera (SHC) 21-15, 21-15
4. Brittany Pellitteri/Kaila Dorish (FAU) def. Taylor Hurst/Catherine Milwee (SHC) 21-11, 21-16
5. Nicole Grant/Ashlan Cunningham (FAU) def. Emily Sullivan/Emmarose Neibert (SHC) 21-15, 21-16
Ext. Nicole Grant/Nicole Navarro (FAU) def. Emily Greim/Patty Blood (SHC) 21-15, 21-11
 
Spring Hill College 3, UNO 2
1. Victoria Corcoran/Cara Sander (UNO) def. Gidney/Vujnovich (SHC) 21-18, 15-21, 15-11
2. Bilotti/Senft (SHC) def. Rachel Kuhn/Veronica Corcoran (UNO) 21-19, 12-21, 15-11
3. Herrera/Weimer (SHC) def. Brianna Vega/Madison Miller (UNO) 23-21, 21-12
4. Milwee/Hurst (SHC) def Blessing Dunn/Jordan Schumacher (UNO) 18-21, 21-19, 15-10
5. Ally Carr/Kaitlyn Grice (UNO) def. Neibert/Sullivan (SHC) 21-19, 21-17
Ext. Manela Grau/Ally Carr (UNO) def. Greim/Katie Beth Gammon (SHC) 21-7, 21-6
 
The Badgers (7-6) will next participate in the inaugural America Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Small College Beach Championships to be held at Hickory Point Beach in Tavares, Fla., on April 7-8.