Southern Miss beach volleyball, coming off a four-match Spring Break Slam win streak, traveled to Macon, Georgia and won all but one match at the Sun Belt Midseason Tournament.
Southern Miss started their tournament on Friday morning with a match against College of Charleston. Margarita Grigoreva and Ryann Thomas took the first points of the match with a quick pair of 21-15 and 21-19 victories. Y-Nho Do and Jaden White followed with their 21-17 and 21-18 victories to give the Golden Eagles a 2-0 victory. Former Sun Belt Conference Duo of the Week Sadie McAda and Laurel Dennis earned the match-clinching point with commanding 21-13 and 21-10 victories. Looking to sweep the match, Zuzanna Michalska and Abby Lewis earned the Golden Eagles’ fourth point of the match with their 21-13 and 21-16 victories. In the final game, Giovanna Gurgel Bahia and Kitija Martini Adamsone lost their first game 17-21, but came back in the following two games with narrow 25-23 and 20-18 victories as Southern Miss swept all five points in their first match of the tournament.
The Golden Eagles played once more on Friday against Mercer. Once again, Grigoreva and Thomas took the first point of the match after their 21-12 and 21-10 victories. Right on cue, Do and White gave Southern Miss their second point with a quick 21-16 victory and a narrow 24-22 victory. Dennis and McAda sealed the game for the Golden Eagles with their 21-17 and 21-14 wins. After Michalska and Lewis’s 21-18, 21-14 victories and Gurgel Bahia and Martini Adamsone’s 21-15, 21-16 victories, Southern Miss once again took all five points of the match to start their tournament 2-0.
Saturday started off with a match against Coastal Carolina. After Coastal Carolina took the first point of the match, White and Grigoreva battled out a three-game victory to earn the Golden Eagles the tying point. Coastal Carolina returned with their own three-game victory. After losing their first game 16-21, McAda and Dennis came back in their final two games and won both 23-21 and 15-11 to tie the match up 2-2. Coastal Carolina earned the match-clinching point as Southern Miss lost their first game of the weekend 3-2.
In their final game of the tournament, Southern Miss battled against the University of North Carolina Wilmington. UNCW took the first point of the match in a three-game battle, but Michalska and Lewis tied the match with their own three-game comeback victory. Gurgel Bahia and Martini Adamsone’s 22-20 and 21-18 victories gave the Golden Eagles the 2-1 lead. Do and Lustina Corcoz clinched the game for Southern Miss in their 21-19 and 24-22 victories. Grigoreva and Thomas’s 21-14 and 21-16 wins put icing on the cake as the Golden Eagles won 4-1 in their final game of the tournament.
After going 3-1 in the tournament, the Golden Eagles sit at 10-15 on the season and will travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for the FSU challenge this coming weekend.
