TAVARES, Fla. - The Spring Hill College Sandy Badgers didn't win a national title Sunday at the AVCA Small College Beach Championships at the Hickory Point Beach Complex, but they did bring home a third-place finish for the second consecutive year.

Spring Hill (20-11) lost its opening match of the day to the University of Tampa, 3-0, in the Gold Medal Playoff semifinals, but rebounded with a 4-0 win over Colorado Mesa to finish in third place out of 12 teams in the Division II/III field. The Sandy Badgers conclude the 2019 season with a program-record 20 wins, topping the previous best of 17 set back in 2017.

"We're very thankful for the AVCA and their partners for hosting an incredible event. It's obviously frustrating to come up short for the second time to the eventual champion, but it's positive to know that we are a couple points away from being able to place ourselves in the championship match," said Coach Shawn Taylor. "It's also a positive to finish on a win and feel good about earning third in a growing field. When you look back at our body of work over the course of the season we were able to continue to push the program forward. It was the first time we've been able to defend our home courts and go undefeated.  It's also the first time we have hit 20 wins in program history. We will continue to find ways to push the bar higher as we have done throughout the programs history. I'm incredibly proud of this group and what we've been able to accomplish."

Tampa lost to Spring Hill in the third-place match at the 2018 AVCA Small College Beach Championships, but the Spartans avenged that loss Sunday with three straight-set victories to advance to the national title match against defending champion Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Spartans blanked Texas A&M-Kingsville, 3-0, later on Sunday to take home the championship.


Tampa got victories from the teams of Julia Oswald and Rachel Rosequist (21-17, 21-12 over Payton Gidney and Kassandra Fairly at No. 1), Selina Pfuner and Melissa Elias (21-19, 21-14 over Taylor Hurst and Cassidi Sterrett at No. 4) and Erica Haslag and Jordan Duffy (21-14, 21-13 against Emmarose Neibert and Emily Greim at No. 5) to get past the Sandy Badgers into the championship match.

"Today was another perfect day for beach volleyball," Taylor said. "We were up in late in the first set for a couple of pairs. Tampa found a way to edge us out late in the set to score wins in the first set at all 5 pairs.  We dropped the second at pair 1 and 5 but pairs 2 and 3 were looking to push both of their matches to a third set. We just couldn't hold off the attack at the 4's long enough and suffered a two-set loss."


The loss to Tampa - Spring Hill's first loss to a non-Division I opponent this season - dropped the Sandy Badgers into the third-place match against Colorado Mesa (7-11), which lost to Texas A&M-Kingsville in the other semifinal. Spring Hill rebounded from the Tampa setback with a convincing victory over the Mavericks, winning four straight-set matches and taking the first set in the fifth match, which wasn't completed after the Sandy Badgers had clinched the victory.


Gidney and Fairly won 21-18, 21-12 in the No. 1 slot, Allison Weimer and Caroline Herrera teamed for a 21-11, 21-17 victory at No. 2, Brittany Bilotti and Sarah Senft picked up a 21-14, 21-8 win at No. 3 and Neibert and Greim tallied a 21-15, 21-19 win at No. 5 for the Sandy Badgers.

"We found ourselves in a familiar situation (as last year) having to quickly shake off the loss and refocus our efforts on Colorado Mesa.  It took us a while to shake off the previous loss but we were able to get back in our groove. Mesa was threatening us at the 1's pair in the first set.  We were able to string a few points together at the end," Taylor said. "The second set, Colorado Mesa remained close up until the technical timeout at in which we held the advantage 12-9.  We got on a roll and only conceded two more points on our way to clinching the match at 21-11. Our 2's and 3's pairs quickly followed to clinch the match. We were able to win at the 4's in convincing fashion as Cass and Taylor were putting serves on the opponent.  Senior Emily Greim put the exclamation point on the victory as they also finished with a straight set victory."


Spring Hill loses four seniors off the 2019 squad: Katie Beth Gammon, Greim, Herrera, and Morgan Eiland. Herrera, who stands 5-foot-9 and hails from Austin, Tex., leaves the Sandy Badgers as the program's career wins leader, racking up 57 victories in her time in a Spring Hill uniform.

AVCA Small College Beach Championships
at Tavares, Fla.
Gold Medal Playoff Semifinal
University of Tampa 3, Spring Hill 0
1. Julia Oswald/Rachel Rosequist (Tampa) def. Payton Gidney/Kassandra Fairly (SHC) 21-17, 21-12
2. Allison Weimer/Caroline Herrera (SHC) vs. Sorrel Houghton/Katie McKiel (Tampa) DNF
3. Brittany Bilotti/Sarah Senft (SHC) vs. Lexi Thompson/Valerie Rosequist (Tampa) DNF
4. Selina Pfuner/Melissa Elias (Tampa) def. Taylor Hurst/Cassidi Sterrett (SHC) 21-19, 21-14
5. Erica Haslag/Jordan Duffy (Tampa) def. Emmarose Neibert/Emily Greim (SHC) 21-14, 21-13

Third Place Match
Spring Hill 4, Colorado Mesa 0
1. Payton Gidney/Kassandra Fairly (SHC) def. Portia Valadez/Katie Scherr (CM) 21-18, 21-12
2. Allison Weimer/Caroline Herrera (SHC) def. Samantha Ritter/Macie Lachemann (CM) 21-11, 21-17
3. Brittany Bilotti/Sarah Senft (SHC) def. Lindy Dixon/Hailey Crane (CM) 21-14, 21-8
4. Taylor Hurst/Cassidi Sterrett (SHC) vs. Ara Norwood/Holly Schmidt (CM) DNF
5. Emmarose Neibert/Emily Greim (SHC) def. Magda Dabrowski/Kerstin Layman (CM) 21-15, 21-19