Tallahassee, Florida – The No. 20 ranked Husky beach volleyball team started the 2023 season off against two top 20 ranked opponents in Tallahassee, Florida at day one of the Seminole Beach Bash. The Huskies defeated No.16 ranked Florida International University 3-2 and pushed the second-ranked Florida State Seminoles in a 1-4 loss, where Washington’s No. 1 pair of Natalie Robinson and Chloe Loreen knocked off the No. 1 FSU duo.
Head Coach Derek Olson was impressed with the team’s effort. “Today was good overall. All I wanted to see was if they could carry over what we’ve been working on in practice to actual competition and I think they did just that. Across the board we competed,” he said. “FIU is probably a better team than their ranking, they have a lot of great athletes so it was a great effort by our team. We also kept it very competitive against a very good FSU team. We had swings for match on Ct. 2 and Ct. 5 was close as well.”
In the first win over FIU, Robinson became the Washington career beach wins leader, moving past Shayne McPherson with the 68th victory of her career.
Remarked on this accomplishment, Olson said, “I’m super proud of Natalie because I know how much she’s sacrificing and how much she enjoys playing for UW. She’s been the leader here for as long as I’ve been here so it’s cool to see her get that recognition. Obviously Chloe has a huge role in that as well so it’s really a testament to both of them.”
The Huskies moved to 1-1 to start the season and will continue the tournament tomorrow against No. 19 South Carolina and Coastal Carolina.
Florida International
The Huskies faced FIU for the opening match of the 2023 season. Against the Panthers, all five pairs started the match at the same time. Chloe Loreen and Natalie Robinson picked up a 21-13, 21-18 win over Ribeiro/Pokorna at No. 1 for the first point for Washington. This was followed by a win at No. 4, Hannah Yerex and Scarlett Dahl. This pair defeated Luini/Meyer 21-19, 21-14 to grab the second win for the Huskies.
The Huskies clinch the win at the No. 3 pair Piper Monk-Heidrich and Kendall Mather who took down Bianchi, Pratesi 21-19, 21-19.
At No. 5, pair Teagan DeFalco and Shannon Gormally took on Bielak/Dimitriadas. The Huskies grabbed the first set win to the Panthers 21-18. FIU pushed back to win the second set 18-21 to force the third. In the tiebreak the Panthers prevailed 15-10.
Lastly, on court No. 3,
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