FLORENCE, Ala. (November 7, 2023) – The University of North Alabama beach volleyball team competed in their final weekend of the inaugural fall season this past weekend, making appearances at the AVCA Pairs Championships in Huntsville, Ala. and the Blazer Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. from Nov. 3-5.
The Lions totaled 11 wins between the two outings, with six wins capsulating the championships in Huntsville and five wins at the Blazer Invite. Graduate student Paula Klemperer and senior Taylor Seney paired up for a 23rd place finish, while graduate student Mackenzie Martin and sophomore Selma Robinson capped the weekend tied for 29th at the championships. Both Lion pairings advanced to the championship bracket out of pool play in a field that included numerous Power Five programs.
The Blazer Invite saw junior Ryenne Gepford and senior Martha McLaurin, as well as sophomore Grace Austin and senior Jelena Girod take two wins. Sophomore Kati Anderson and graduate student Kaitlyn Holbrook took home a win to conclude the action from Birmingham.
In Huntsville, Klemperer/Seney advanced to championship bracket with a 3-0 record in pool play, defeating Nicole De Oliveira/Kacie Johnson of conference foe FGCU (21-13, 21-9), Jordan Bennett/Alexandra Urbina of Santa Clara (21-11, 21-16) and Malia Gementera/Taylor Gementara California State – Long Beach in come from behind fashion (9-21, 21-18, 15-10).
Martin/Robinson advanced with two wins over Zoey Henson/Lauren Wilcock of Washington (21-17, 21-19) and Marlayna Bullington/Lily Patock of Boise State (21-16,18-21,15-12) to finish second in their pool. Both matches ended in competitive fashion and resulted in wins for the Lions.
In the championship bracket, Klemperer/Seney dropped their opening match to Allison Hanson/Raelyn White of Florida State (19-21, 9-21) but rebounded with a down-to-the-wire win over Nevaeh Wolfe/Hailey Wolfe of Tampa (24-26, 21-17,15-13) in the 17th place bracket. They fell to Peri Brennan/Lexy Denaburg of UCLA (17-21, 15-21) to move to the 21st place bracket before bowing out 13-21, 21-18, 13-15 to Cal Poly's Izzy Martinez/Piper Naess.
Martin/Robinson dropped their opening championship round to Courtney Moon/Marketa Svozilova of FAU (13-21, 17-21) before falling in the 17th and 25th place bracket with 18-21, 20-22 and 18-21, 21-14, 13-15 defeats to Gia Fisher/Maya Gessner of Cal and Carolina Ferraris/Vanessa Hurnikova of Stetson, respectively.
With the fall season now concluded for Beach Volleyball, the Lions wrap up the fall portion with 39 wins across four invitationals & tournaments. UNA will now look forward to the spring season in 2024.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
