Caroline Bryant
The Southern Editor
To close the beach volleyball season, the Mocs competed in the AVCA Small College Championships at Hickory Point Beach in Tavares, Florida April 12-14. The team matched-up against six schools throughout the tournament as the No. 10 seed in Pool B. They started third out of four in their pool.
The first morning began with a rocky start, facing No. 2-seed Concordia University Irvine and No. 7-seed Tusculum University. Pair four of sophomore Christina Ramazio and freshman Sydney Melcher fell to pair Jordyn Nichols and Korah Nordin of Concordia University, missing both sets to 21-11 and a 21-17 final. The fifth pair, freshman Hailey Carefoot and graduate Jackie Schner lost both sets 21-19 and 21-10, as pair one sophomore Ashli McKenny and graduate Emma Winford fell to 21-18, 21-8 to complete the loss of 0-3, Concordia.
Juniors Chloe Maxwell and Madeline Sanders rallied the Mocs back in the pairs challenge, though, winning one game against Catawba College in sets, 21-14, 21-12.
The afternoon continued to challenge the team, falling to Tusculum University 0-3, as well. Pair two of senior Sarah Crocker and graduate Regan Carlton lost their first sets together 21-15, 21-10. New duo junior Hayley St. Martin and freshman Mary Olivia Muti lost set one 21-8, but recovered in set two 21-12. Melcher and Ramazio returned to the court, but were defeated 21-11, 21-15.
Maxwell and Sanders went up against Saint Leo University pair Clare Flanagan and Erin Johnson for their second pairs challenge of the day, losing the first game 21-9, 21-17.
Day two ended in better results, conquering both No. 15-seed Catawba and McKendree University 3-0. Pair McKenny and Winford swept Catawba’s Savanna Corrales and Hayes Smith 22-20, 21-8. Ramazio and Melcher defeated Brooklyn Calkins and JJ Quarrels 21-8, 21-12, and Schner and Carefoot defeated Lauren Shepherd and Claire Vinskus 21-11, 21-10.
Against McKendree, pair two Crocker and Carlton won 21-15, 21-16. Ramazio and Melcher returned for their second game of the day, beating the Bearcats 21-12, 21-18. Pair Schner and Carefoot ended the day with a win of 21-17, 21-12.
Maxwell and Sanders united for their third pairs challenge of the weekend, prevailing over Catawba 21-14, 21-12 after their loss the day before to the team. However, they fell to the Lions again in two straight sets 21-9, 21-17.
Their series of wins on the second day allowed the Sandy Mocs to advance from the copper bracket to the bronze bracket for the final day of the tournament. They started the semifinals of the bracket against Eckerd College, who they last saw at the Tampa Invite 3 the previous week.
The winning pairs were McKenny and Winford, Crocker and Carlton, and Schner and Carefoot. The first pair won two straight sets with 21-15, 21-16. Crocker and Carlton reigned victorious after a third set, ending 21-17, 17-21 and 15-13 on the court. Schner and Carefoot swept the Tritons 21-13, 21-17. Duo St. Martin and Muti fell to Eckerd 21-17 in both sets. Ramazio and Melcher lost their first set 16-21, bounced back in the second with 21-15, then fell in the final set 11-15.
Their three out of five winning matches earned the Sandy Mocs a spot in the championship game for the bronze bracket against Spring Hill College (Ala.). Tensions were high as McKenny and Winford took the court again to win the first match against the Badgers 23-21, 21-19.
“Emma and I are always eager to better and perform better, so we both came into our last game wanting to give it all we had,” McKenny said. “We kept a strong and calm mentality throughout the match which helped us perform to the best of our ability against SHC.”
Two pairs lost a tough three set battle to the Badgers: Crocker and Carlton, and Carefoot and Schner. Ramazio and Melcher fell with a final score of 13-21, 16-21, giving Spring Hill a 3-1 win over the Mocs. The Sandy Mocs’ last match against the college was at the 2023 AVCA Small College Championships, with the Badgers dominating 3-0.
Their championship loss resulted in a second place finish in the bronze bracket, with Wayne State College and Eckerd College trailing behind. The team finished No. 10 overall out of 16 competing teams, finishing the regular season 23-11, compared to their 8-23 record in 2023.
