FORT WORTH, Texas -- Missouri State's beach volleyball team took two of the nation's top programs down to the wire Saturday at the Horned Frogs Challenge, falling 3-2 to both 17th-ranked Tulane and a TCU club that sat just outside the AVCA Top 20 poll before winning three matches during the tournament.

"I am exceptionally proud of how well we played and how we represented Missouri State Beach," said head coach Terri Del Conte after the weekend. "We are fighters and showed it against four top teams, with two of the matches coming down to 3-2 finals. The most exciting part is that we are nowhere near our peak yet."

The Bears grabbed a 2-0 lead on Tulane in the first match, getting straight-set wins from Kylee Davis and Kelsey Larsen in the fourth pair and Bentley Mara and Sarah Demmer in the fifth flight. The Green Wave rallied with three wins at the top of the lineup to take the dual.

Against TCU, Sydney LeMay and Sam Brinkmann put MSU on the board with a gutsy 21-19, 22-20 victory in the No. 4 spot, and Davis and Larsen picked up their second win of the day in the third flight, briefly putting the Bears ahead 2-1 before the Horned Frogs escaped by winning the top two matches. Brinkmann's victory made her the first player in program history with 10 pairs wins.

After picking up only one total pairs victory in six matches against teams ranked or receiving votes all of last season, the Bears earned five such wins in four matches in Texas to begin the 2019 campaign. 

The Bears are idle until a spring break trip to southern California, when they will play nine matches over five days beginning March 12.

#17 Tulane 3, Missouri State 2:
No. 1 - Kaylie McHugh/Eva Torruella (TUL) def. Mikaela Mosquera/Ivy Reynolds (MSU) 21-15, 21-17
No. 2 - Lauren Orlich/Rio Frohoff (TUL) def. Julia Hanson/Chloee McDaniel (MSU) 21-14, 21-13
No. 3 - Haley Gibson/Tarin Mergener (TUL) def. Sam Brinkmann/Sydney LeMay (MSU) 21-19, 21-13
No. 4 - Kylee Davis/Kelsey Larsen (MSU) def. Gabriella Becerra/Ellie Leitko (TUL) 22-20, 21-12
No. 5 - Bentley Mara/Sarah Demmer (MSU) def. Morgan Esters/Kilani Daane (TUL) 21-15, 21-19
Order of finish: 5,4,2,3,1

TCU 3, Missouri State 2:
No. 1 - Victoria McDonald/Haven Hill (TCU) def. Ivy Reynolds/Mikaela Mosquera (MSU) 21-18, 21-9
No. 2 - Molly Scheel/Taylor Bradley (TCU) def. Julia Hanson/Chloee McDaniel (MSU) 21-16, 21-15
No. 3 - Kylee Davis/Kelsey Larsen (MSU) def. Hannah Rogers/Claire Doyle (TCU) 21-16, 21-18
No. 4 - Sydney LeMay/Sam Brinkmann (MSU) def. Caroline White/Jordan Westendorff (TCU) 21-19, 22-20
No. 5 - Avery Arellano/Hailey Brockett (TCU) def. Bentley Mara/Sarah Demmer (MSU) 21-13, 21-16
Extra - Sydney Wright/Abby Jackson (MSU) def. Hayley Boll/Jensyn Bledsoe (TCU) 21-19, 21-18
Order of finish: 5,4,3,2,1