Beach Bears sweep day one with two wins at Austin Peay Classic

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Central Arkansas didn’t waste any time making a statement in Tennessee.

Traveling to Clarksville for the Austin Peay Beach Volleyball Classic on Friday, the Bears came away with a perfect 2-0 record after beating Texas A&M–Kingsville 3-2 in the morning and then rolling past Tennessee Tech 4-1 in the afternoon.

It wasn’t always easy, but UCA found a way to win both times — and that’s exactly the kind of result a team wants heading into Day Two of a tournament.

The opening match against Texas A&M–Kingsville was the tighter of the two. The Bears had to battle through a close, five-court dual that came down to the No. 1 pair before UCA could seal the deal.

But before that moment arrived, the team built its early lead on courts four and five, where two pairs gave the Bears the kind of quick, clean results they needed.

Allison Heck and Ella Weilert got things going at the No. 4 spot, taking care of business with a 21-12, 21-15 win.

Right behind them, Anna Jaworski and Liliana Irizarry won 21-13, 21-19 at the No. 5 position to put the Bears in front.

Blum and Linskey Deliver in Clutch Moment

With the match on the line, the pressure fell squarely on the No. 1 pair of Natalie Blum and Anna Linskey. They dropped the first set, which could’ve shifted the energy in the wrong direction.

Instead, they rallied. The duo won the second set 21-14 and then closed it out 15-10 in the third to give UCA the 3-2 victory and send the team into lunch with a win in hand.

It’s that kind of fight-back moment that defines competitive beach volleyball teams, and Blum and Linskey delivered exactly that.

The Bears carried that energy into the afternoon matchup against Tennessee Tech, and the results weren’t close. UCA cruised to a 4-1 win, with three of those four victories coming in straight sets from the middle of the lineup.

Chandler Lawrence and Madelyn White handled their business at No. 2. Brooke Sharp and Ella Layzell won at No. 3.

Heck and Weilert came through again at No. 4, picking up their second win of the day. Jaworski and Irizarry also made it two wins apiece, taking the No. 5 match 21-16, 21-18.

Tennessee Tech’s only point came in a three-set fight on court one — the lone bright spot in an otherwise tough afternoon for the Golden Eagles.

Bears Show Depth Across the Lineup

What stood out most from Friday’s action wasn’t just the two wins, it was how UCA earned them. The Bears didn’t rely on one or two pairs to carry the load.

Instead, different players stepped up in different moments across both matches.

Heck and Weilert contributed wins in both duals. Jaworski and Irizarry did the same at the bottom of the lineup. And the middle courts held firm in the Tennessee Tech match, giving the Bears a comfortable cushion.

That kind of lineup depth is valuable in a two-day tournament format, where fatigue and adjustment both become factors.

The Bears showed they can get contributions from top to bottom, which sets them up well heading into the final day of play.

UCA returns to the court Saturday with two more matches scheduled.

The Bears face tournament host Austin Peay at noon, then close out the tournament against McKendree at 2 p.m. A strong second day would give UCA a clean tournament sweep and Friday’s performance showed that’s a realistic possibility.