Texan Beach Volleyball to play 4 matches in Corpus Christi Friday-Saturday in Islander Classic

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Tarleton State Beach Volleyball is back in action this weekend following a two-week break. The Texans will play four matches between Friday-Saturday in Corpus Christi at the Islander Classic, hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Tarleton State (4-8) will face fellow Conference USA foe Sam Houston (1-11) to open the event on Friday at 10 a.m. The Texans will then take on Texas A&M-Kingsville (16-8) for the third time this season on Friday at 2:30 p.m. On Saturday at 10 a.m., Tarleton will play a true road match against the host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (12-9). To wrap up play in Corpus Christi, Tarleton State will face Stephen F. Austin (13-9) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

The Texans return to action after participating in the LBSU Invitational, hosted by Long Beach State in California. Tarleton faced some of the best teams in the nation there, including No. 9 ranked Long Beach State and teams receiving votes in the national polls, Concordia and Arizona. The Texans have lost six straight matches overall but most have been competitive, including nail-biting losses to California State Bakersfield and Colorado Mesa, 3-2 each.

Against Sam Houston, Tarleton State plans to pair and at No. 1, and on Court 2, and on Court 3, and on Court 4, and with at No. 5.

Bryant and Halcomb have played on Court 1 together all season, going 6-6 thus far. Schirpik and Huber have paired up four times between Courts 2-3, going 0-4. Brown and Parayno claim the same stats together. Chun made her Texan debut in Tarleton's last match, alongside Bendele, so this will be Chun and Ching's first match together. Bendele and Mitchell are 0-3 together between Courts 4-5.

Overall this season, Ching and have the best records on the team, each at 8-4, all matches played together.

Tarleton's match against Sam Houston will be a first in series history. The Texans have played Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and SFA each one time last season, falling 5-0 against the Islanders and 4-1 against the Ladyjacks. Tarleton State is looking for redemption against the Javelinas, now 0-4 against the squad from Kingsville all-time. Texas A&M-Kingsville won both this season 4-1, with Tarleton's win in the first match coming on Court 5 by Fuentes and Ching, and on Court 1 in the second match by Halcomb and Bryant. In the first match, all five were decided in straight sets, while three went to three sets in the second team match, not including Tarleton's win on Court 1.

There will not be live scoring for these matches, however, Tarleton's match against the hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will be broadcast on ESPN+.