FORT WORTH, Texas - Missouri State beach volleyball (16-7) dropped both of its matches against ranked opponents on Friday to start the Fight in the Fort Tournament. The Bears were swept by No. 13 Grand Canyon in the morning and fell to No. 2-ranked host TCU in the late afternoon.

No. 13 Grand Canyon 5, Missouri State 0

Missouri State opened the Fight in the Fort with its first of two ranked matches against No. 13 Grand Canyon (20-8). The Lopes defeated the Bears, 5-0, earning sweeps at four of the five flights to win their 20th match of the season.

Becca Bach and Allyson Larkin took the first set off of Adrianna Ferro and Ines Piret, 21-19, before the top GCU pairing battled back to take the second set, 21-16. The third tiebreaking set was neck-and-neck to start, but GCU secured a 15-11 win in the third set to complete the team sweep.

Long-time partners MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary held their own against Katie Keefe and Rhea Kohl, particularly in the second set. The Lopes won the first set, 21-14, but were taken to the brink in the second set. Cleary and Steele forced the GCU pair to an extended second set, but Keefe and Kohl held on to the win, 22-20.

Grand Canyon won the match-clinching point at Flight No. 4, where Karynn Garrow and Sophia Hladyniuk handed Rylie Cepicky and Manuela Niemeyer just their third loss of the season, 21-17, 21-13.

Flight No. 5 saw Madi Bogle and Sarah Edler defeat Olivia Rattler and Erin Eschleman in straight sets, 21-11, 21-15. 

The GCU sister pairing of Becca Drake and Jessica Drake kept the ball rolling with a win at Flight No. 3 over Maddie Schrandt and Morgan Sprague, 21-10, 21-12.


No. 2 Texas Christian 5, Missouri State 0

The Bears were met with the same fate to end the day against TCU (23-5) as the Sandy Frogs swept every set to take the 5-0 win.

The first head-to-head matchup ended at Flight No. 2 as Hailey Hamlett and Maria Gonzalez defeated MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary, 21-10, 21-8. 

TCU's Allanis Navas and Sofia Izuzquiza took down Maddie Schrandt and Morgan Sprague by the exact same score as Flight No. 2, 21-10, 21-8. 

Rylie Cepicky and Manuela Niemeyer played two very different sets at No. 4 against the reigning Big 12 Pair of the Week, Ana Vergara and Anhelina Khmil. The Bears duo dropped the first set, 21-8, but mounted a huge rally in the second set to tie it at 21. The Horned Frogs then got the two points they needed to put the set and the match away.

TCU officially secured the team victory with its win at Flight No. 5 thanks to Denie Konstantinova and Olivia Clines. The duo defeated Olivia Rattler and Erin Eschleman, 21-12, 21-10. 

Becca Bach and Allyson Larkin were again tough outs at Flight No. 1, but were ultimately felled by Daniela Alvarez and Hallie Corinne Frist, 21-13, 21-11, to end the match.

Up Next

Missouri State will conclude the regular season tomorrow for the final day of the Fight in the Fort Tournament with two matches on Saturday against Louisiana Monroe at 10:00 a.m. and Houston Christian at 2:00 p.m. ULM was also swept by GCU on Friday, while Houston Christian was swept by TCU.