BATON ROUGE, La. - The Spring Hill College Sandy Badgers traveled Friday to Mango's Beach Volleyball club for the Battle on the Bayou Tournament and emerged from the opening day with a split of two matches.
Spring Hill (14-8) started the day with a 5-0 loss to Louisiana-Monroe, but rebounded with a 5-0 victory over Nicholls State to finish the day 1-1.
Even though the Warhawks (17-12) were able to win every match, Spring Hill was competitive in all of them, losing three three-set matches among the five counting matches and a fourth in the exhibition match. 
"We lost to ULM and if you look at the overall match score, it can be a bit misleading," said Spring Hill head coach Shawn Taylor. "While we did lose, 5-0, three of those matches went to a deciding set.  Cassidi (Sterrett) and Taylor (Hurst) fell behind in the third set, 7-1, before roaring back to even things up at 10-10 on the side change. On the No. 3's court, Britt (Brittany Bilotti) and (Sarah) Senft's attempt at a comeback was thwarted, as they were able to push it to a deciding set, yet they struggled siding out in the late going. Allison (Weimer) and Carole (Caroline Herrera) would also push their match to a third and deciding set at the No. 2's but ULM was again able to hold us off."
Herrera and Weimer fell, 17-21, 21-14, 15-8 to Maile Sellers and Catherine Griffith in the No. 2 match, Senft and Bilotti lost, 23-21, 19-21, 15-8 to Kayla Gallant and Gabby Love at No. 3 and Elizabeth Moreland and Allie Kemp held off Hurst and Sterrett, 21-18, 17-21, 15-11 at No. 4. In the other two matches, the Warhawks' Grace Convey and Tamara Merseli beat Payton Gidney and Kassandra Fairly, 21-14, 21-19 at No. 1 and Bailey Smith and Holland Ponthieux got past Emily Greim and Emmarose Neibert, 21-13, 21-18 at No. 5.
The Nicholls State match was a rematch of a 5-0 Spring Hill win back on March 1 at the UNO Beach Volleyball Invitational and the Sandy Badgers duplicated the result in the second go-round between the two teams.
Gidney and Fairly beat Emily Weimer and Kylie Lockhart, 18-21, 21-13, 15-8 for the Sandy Badgers in the No. 1 match and the other four matches were sweeps for Spring Hill. Herrera and Weimer beat Emily Gauthreaux and Emily Venable, 21-14, 21-18 at No. 2, Senft and Bilotti won, 21-14, 21-13 over Katie Jones and Jennifer Olivarez at No. 3, the No. 4 pairing of Hurst and Sterrett won, 21-17, 21-13 over Sydney Swann and Aaliyah Burras and Greim and Neibert took out Maddie Lowe and Meghan Wozniak, 22-20, 21-16 at No. 5 for the Sandy Badgers.
"Against Nicholls State, we were off and running," said Taylor. "I thought our girls did a better job of being on the attack today and working hard to earn points.  The teams we are facing this weekend and down the stretch give you very little, so it's important that we find ways to score. I'm very proud of how we competed and I felt like regardless of the scores, we worked hard on every point."
Spring Hill wraps up play in the tournament on Saturday, taking on New Orleans at 8:45 a.m. and then facing fourth-ranked and tournament host LSU at 12:30 p.m. It will be the first meeting of the season between LSU and the Sandy Badgers, but Spring Hill and New Orleans have split two previous meetings in 2019. The Sandy Badgers won, 4-1, at the UNO Beach Volleyball Invitational on March 2, while the Privateers replied with a 4-1 win of their own at the UAB Beach Blazer Duals in Gulf Shores, Ala., on March 8.

Friday
at the Battle on the Bayou Tournament
hosted by LSU
at Mango's Beach Volleyball Club
Baton Rouge, La.
Louisiana-Monroe 5, Spring Hill 0
1. Grace Convey/Tamara Merseli (ULMBV) def. Payton Gidney/Kassandra Fairly (SHC) 21-14, 21-19
2. Maile Sellers/Catherine Griffith (ULMBV) def. Caroline Herrera/Allison Weimer (SHC) 17-21, 21-14, 15-8
3. Kayla Gallant/Gabby Love (ULMBV) def. Sarah Senft/Brittany Bilotti (SHC) 23-21, 19-21, 15-8
4. Elizabeth Moreland/Allie Kemp (ULMBV) def. Taylor Hurst/Cassidi Sterrett (SHC) 21-18, 17-21, 15-11
5. Bailey Smith/Holland Ponthieux (ULMBV) def. Emily Greim/Emmarose Neibart (SHC) 21-13, 21-18
Ext. Emily Sullivan/Leanne Sorrel (SHC) def. Grace Convey/Emma Vann (ULMBV) 15-21, 21-15, 16-14
Spring Hill 5, Nicholls St. 0
1. Payton Gidney/Kassandra Failry (SHC) def. Emily Weimer/Kylie Lockhart (NSU) 18-21, 21-13, 15-8
2. Caroline Herrera/Allison Weimer (SHC) def. Emily Gauthreaux/Emily Venable (NSU) 21-14, 21-18
3. Sarah Senft/Brittany Bilotti (SHC) def. Katie Jones/Jennifer Olivarez (NSU) 21-14, 21-13
4. Taylor Hurst/Cassidi Sterrett (SHC) def. Sydney Swann/Aaliyah Burras (NSU) 21-17, 21-13
5. Emily Greim/Emmarose Neibert (SHC) def. Maddie Lowe/Meghan Wozniak (NSU) 22-20, 21-16
Ext. Emily Sullivan/Leanne Sorrel (SHC) def. Kimberly Iwunze/Lydia Frederick (NSU) 21-8, 21-13