TUCSON – The Missouri State beach volleyball team completed the final day of play at the Arizona Invitational as the Bears fell to Arizona and UC Davis, 4-1 respectively.
"We knew this weekend would be a challenging one for our team," head coach Russ Friedland said. "Hopefully we can learn from this weekend with the next couple weeks of training and apply it when we kick off the conference tournament in a couple weeks."
Missouri State opened its day with tournament host No. 13 Arizona. The Wildcats raced out to a 4-0 lead with victories in the 5, 1, 3 and 4 positions on their way to a 4-1 victory. The Bears ended the match on a positive note as Grace Cook and Chloe Tome won a three-set nail-biter over the Wildcat's Brooke Burling and Sarah Blacker (24-22, 19-21, 15-13) as the No. 2 pair.
Missouri State closed out the invitational with a 4-1 loss to UC Davis. The Aggies got an early 3-0 lead courtesy of wins in the No. 1, 3 and 5 matches. In the No. 2 match, the Bears were victorious yet again as Cook and Tome defeated Heather Reed and Megan Luly of UC Davis, 21-17 21-16. The win improved Cook and Tome to 11-2 on the season. The duo's 11 wins in a single-season is a new program record.
"Grace (Cook) and Chloe (Tome) had a really strong weekend at the No. 2 spot," Friedland added. "They have been consistent all season long and continue to improve the more they play. We love to see new records being set and I am really happy that these two have etched themselves into this programs record book in this crazy pandemic season."
In the No. 4 spot Tory Penick and Pamela Jaime went the distance against the Aggies' Ashley Goycoochea and Alexis Rockas, but ultimately fell (16-21, 21-13, 11-15).
The Bears (7-6) will be back in action April 23-24 when they compete in the 14-team CCSA Tournament in Huntsville, Ala.
Results
Arizona 4, MSU 1
1. Alana Rennie/Alex Parkhurst (ARIZ) def. Tylar Garrett/Chloe Filipski (MSU) 21-9, 21-12
2. Chloe Tome/Grace Cook (MSU) def. Brooke Burling/Sarah Blacker (ARIZ) 24-22, 19-21, 15-13
3. Natalie Anselmo/Carly Lowry (ARIZ) def. Kylee Davis/Parker McAllen (MSU) 21-13, 21-10
4. Abby Russell/Hope Shannon (ARIZ) def. Tory Penick/Pamela Jaime (MSU) 21-14, 21-19
5. Olivia Hallaran/Jonny Baham (ARIZ) def. Brooke Plessner/Gala Galabova (MSU) 21-11, 21-10
Order of finish
5, 1, 3*, 4, 2
*Clinched Match Point
UC Davis 4, MSU 1
1. Paloma Bowman/Colleen McGuire (UCD) def. Tylar Garrett/Chloe Filipski (MSU) 21-19, 21-8
2. Chloe Tome/Grace Cook (MSU) def. Heather Reed/Megan Luly (UCD) 21-17, 21-16
3. Jane Seslar/Madeline Smith (UCD) def. Kylee Davis/Parker McAllen (MSU) 21-19, 21-12
4. Ashlee Goycoochea/Alexa Rockas (UCD) def. Tory Penick/Pamela Jaime (MSU) 21-16, 13-21, 15-11
5. Bailey Herdman/Summer Bouquet (UCD) def. Brooke Plessner/Gala Galabova (MSU) 21-13, 21-15
Order of finish
1, 3, 5*, 2, 4
*Clinched Match Point
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