The Golden Eagles finished the weekend with a 3-1 record in their four matches, but the highlight of the weekend was the celebration for the three Southern Miss graduating seniors, Breleigh Favre, Olivia Hepworth and Melanie Miller.
Head Coach Shawn Taylor showed his respect to his seniors and discussed why this weekend means so much to him and those seniors.
“I think seven or so years ago and two Athletic Directors ago that Brett and Deanna asked me to come up and talk with Bill McGillis… and they were looking to add beach volleyball but they hadn’t committed to it yet and kind of talk about what it would take,” Taylor said “(Breleigh Farve and Olivia Hepworth) They were kind of the first of our players to really help kickstart this program… so to have that opportunity to help them see us build the program and experience some success while they were here is huge.”
The Golden Eagles opened the weekend in an early matchup on Friday, April 8 against the ULM Warhawks.
Before the matchup, Southern Miss had never lost to ULM in its history.
Southern Miss dropped the first flight in straight sets, 17-21 and 11-21, but responded in a three-set battle as Valeria Siakidou Papakyriakou and Kai Norman won their twentieth match as a pair.
Southern Miss then earned victories from duos Breleigh Favre/Aleksandra Chudzik and Vanessa Hurnikova/Kellie Garraway.
The Golden Eagles went on to dominate the Central Arkansas Beach Bears with a 4-1 victory.
The Beach Bears came in with a 13-8 record and this was the first-ever meeting between the two universities.
Papakyriakou/Norman kicked off the matchup after taking the fifth position 21-18 and 21-19.
Duos Phelan/Sandlin, Taylor Pierce/Hepworth and Hurnikova/Garraway gave Southern Miss their three other victories with only one defeat from the Favre/Chudzik duo in two sets.
The Golden Eagles kept their winning ways going into Saturday’s matches with another 4-1 victory over the Spring Hill Sandy Badgers.
Norman/Papakyriakou took the first match of the day after two sets with 18-21 and 16-21 victories.
Hallie Phelan and Reagan Sandlin lost back-to-back sets 21-23 and 20-22 to give the Sandy Badgers their first and only point of the day.
Southern Miss closed the show as duos Pierce/Hepworth, Hurnikova/Garraway and Favre/Chudzik handled their business in all of their three-set victories.
This victory for Hepworth awarded her as the Golden Eagles’ all-time leader in individual set victories with 42.
Southern Miss fought hard to finish this weekend with a perfect record, but they could not overcome the No. 21 Tulane Green Waves in a 3-2 defeat.
Tulane started the match with the first point at the fifth position with a two-set victory, 21-16 and 23-21.
The second point was awarded to Southern Miss in a high-scoring three-set match where the first set ended with a 28-26 score.
Southern Miss dropped the next set, but they did enough in the final set to claim the 15-9 victory to tie at 1-1.
The second wave of matches started with a loss from the Garraway/Hurnikova duo that gave Tulane a 2-1 point advantage.
Tulane claimed their third point in the next match and ended the Golden Eagles’ chances when the Pierce/Hepworth duo fell in two sets, 18-21 and 12-21.
The Favre/Chudzik duo fought in the final flight of the night to claim a two-set victory.
This weekend brings the Golden Eagles’ record to 10-19 on the year after a 3-17 start to the season.
Southern Miss now gets a break before traveling to Tucson, Arizona for the Arizona Invitational.
The Golden Eagles will face two currently ranked teams in the No. 17 Arizona Wildcats and No. 16. Long Beach State Beach on Friday, April 15.
Southern Miss then finishes the Invitational against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners on Saturday, April 16.
