BRADENTON, Fla. - Webber International University earned its third consecutive tournament title, defeating Ave Maria University 3-1 in the 2024 Beach Volleyball Championship at the UMR Sports Complex.
The title match was a battle of the unbeatens as WIU and AMU won all three of their matches to land in the championship.
The top-seeded Gyrenes, and Regular Season Champions, defeated St. Andrew's (3-0), Loyola New Orleans (3-2), and semifinalist William Carey (3-0) while second-seeded Webber beat Mobile (3-0), William Carey (3-2), and Mobile again in the semifinals (3-1).
Webber four's pair of
Abby Baxter and
Delanie Johnson earned the opening statement win over the Gyrenes in straight sets by 21-14 and 21-3 scores. The twos on court 1 finished shortly after where Ave Maria's pairing of
Reina Thomas and
Lily Grasso, the Sun Conference Pair of the Year, won their matchup in two sets (21-18, 21-19) to tie the match at 1-1.
It was nothing but Warriors from that point on. Webber's ones, threes, and fives pairs all won their opening sets over the Gyrenes. WIU's threes pairing of
Kendall Steinert and
Leyni Young and the ones pair of
Lily Arnold and
Janna Morrissey won their second sets almost simultaneously to clinch the 3-1 championship victory.
With the win, Webber improves to 14-8 overall and earns the conference's automatic berth in the NAIA National Invitational. The Warriors will join seven other teams in Greeneville, Tenn. at the Greeneville Beach Volleyball Complex on April 25-27, 2024. Ave Maria moves to 13-5 overall and will hope for an at-large qualifying bid into the invitational.
Click here for the bracket, scores, and more information on this year's Championship.
ABOUT THE SUN CONFERENCE
Now entering its 34th year, The Sun Conference, a 501c3 organization, continues to be one of the most successful intercollegiate athletic conferences in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Under the guidance of Commissioner Dustin Wilke, the league sponsors championships in 24 NAIA sports. Learn more at thesunconference.com
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