On Tuesday, the Southeastern Lady Lions beach volleyball team won its only home game of the season with a 4-1 victory over Spring Hill College, breaking Spring Hill’s five-match winning streak.
The duo of junior Mia Sauers and sophomore Gabriela Hrubanova led the way with a dominant two-set win, 21-12, 21-9.
Sauers’ strategic attacks, combined with Hrubonova’s control and consistency, set the tone early for SLU.
“My partner, Gabbie, is just an amazing communicator and has great ball control, so it makes things a lot easier to see the court and what’s open”, Sauers said.
The communication and court awareness were evident throughout the match, as they consistently stayed ahead of their opponents’ adjustments.
Simultaneously, Southeastern added another win by seniors Mia McKinney and Maggie Paiva. The pair secured a straight-set victory, 21-13, 23-21.
After McKinney and Paiva won their game, Head Coach Angie Simpson praised McKinney’s leadership and athleticism.
“She is the glue of this team from a leadership aspect,” Simpson said. “The most explosive player that we have on our roster from an athletic perspective.”
Later on, fifth-year Makayla Hicks and freshman Cadie Kusy also won in two sets, 21-17, 21-11, defending their title as Southland Conference Pair of the week.
Despite securing the victory, Hicks noted that the match was a challenge due to the windy conditions.
“One thing we had to adjust to was the wind,” Hicks said. “It is definitely a factor in beach volleyball, and we just had to really communicate and talk about where we were going during all the plays.”
The next duo, with fifth-year Elizabeth Hardouin and sophomore Genevieve Schubert, secured a win 21-18, 21-16.
The team found that communication was the key to overcoming the small mistakes and taking the win over Spring Hill.
“Any errors that we had, I feel like the communication between each other really helped us thrive to push through our mistakes,” Schubert said.
Southeastern’s lone loss came from senior Carley Petty and junior Taylor Stockwell, who fell in two close sets, 21-14, 22-20.
After the great win, the Lady Lions will host the Southland Conference Mid-Year Invitational in Youngsville this weekend with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Houston Christian, Stephen F. Austin and Nicholls.
Southeastern will start the tournament against Corpus Christi at 9 a.m., followed by a match against Houston Christian at 1 p.m. and face SFA the next morning at 9 a.m., before the team finishes the tournament at 1 p.m. against Nicholls on Sunday.
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