HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Hailey Hamlett and Anhelina Khmil were crowned National Champions at the AVCA Collegiate Beach National Pairs Championships on Sunday afternoon in Huntsville Ala.
The duo went a perfect 8-0 on the weekend. After defeating UCLA in three sets to advance to the finals, Hamlett and Khmil defeated Stanford (21-17, 19-21, 15-12) to secure the first-place finish and win the program's first AVCA Collegiate Beach National Pairs Championship title.
"We're really happy and they deserved to win – they played really good beach volleyball," Head coach Hector Gutierrez said. "They played against the best teams in the country, and they showed they could beat anyone."
Teammates Sutton MacTavish and Ana Vergara had a solid tournament, and the duo placed second in the 25th bracket.
The Rundown
Friday featured pool play which would determine the seeding for the single elimination Pairs Championship on Saturday.
Hamlett and Khmil placed first in pool three, going 3-0 on the first day. The duo earned straight set victories over ULM (21-6, 21-9), Washington (21-11, 21-13) and Stetson (21-11, 21-12) to begin their undefeated weekend.
The duo came out strong on Saturday and continued their winning streak. The two were victorious against LBSU (20-22, 21-16, 15-8) and FIU (21-14, 21-12), which locked in their semifinals appearance and a chance at the National Championships title. On Sunday morning, the duo downed UCLA in the semifinals (12-21, 21-13, 15-10) which earned Hamlett and Khmil a spot in the finals and the pick as the No. 1 seed.
In a nail-biting finish, the two conquered Stanford's Hodel/Rockwell in three sets (21-17, 19-21, 15-12) to win the championship match, earning the Horned Frogs their first ever gold title at the AVCA National Beach Pairs Championships.
"This is an amazing thing for TCU having its first National Champions," Gutierrez said. "It's something really nice, really big and something to be proud of. There's only one team winning, but all the girls back home are pushing them during practices. We also have such a great staff here supporting the girls as well."
MacTavish and Vergara went 2-1 and finished first in their pooling, pool seven, on Friday. The duo took victories over Utah (21-13, 21-18) and FIU (21-18, 21-13), but fell to Arizona State in three sets (21-19, 15-21, 12-15).
MacTavish and Vergara fell to Cal (21-18, 18-21, 10-15) in three sets, which placed them in the 17th-place bracket. The duo fell to UCLA (21-11, 21-14), and moved to the 25th-place bracket for Sunday's matches. In the 25th bracket, MacTavish and Vergara started out strong, downing Tampa (21-14, 24-22) and Utah (21-15, 25-23) before TCU was forced to forfeit the match against Cal Poly due to illness. The two finished second in the bracket.
Up Next
TCU beach volleyball finishes its fall season victorious, as the AVCA Pairs Championship concludes fall play for the Horned Frogs. The team will kick off the regular season Feb. 24-25 in Houston at Houston Christian.
