The Sandy Owls traveled to Tavares, Florida for the AVCA East Qualifiers. Pairs from multiple Florida universities traveled to Central Florida to earn a spot in the AVCA Beach National Championship. The top three duos from the tournament would earn an automatic bid to the tournament. FAU’s pairing of Ashleigh Adams and Marketa Svozilova swept the weekend leaving their competitors with their head in the sand.
Florida Atlantic had three pairs competing in the gold pool. Adams and Svozilova were the top seed on the weekend with Julie Honzovicova and Kate McLaughlin (pictured above, Dylan Vo) following at No. 4. Klaire Vandeusen and Sloane Woolwine were seeded 19th.
While there are silver and bronze pools, only the top finishers in the Gold pool earned a bid to the AVCA National Championship.
The three pairs in the gold pool advanced to play in the single elimination bracket. The pairing of Vandeusen and Woolwine was the 15th overall seed in the bracket which consisted of 16 of the 24 pairs from pool play. They fell to the pairing of Angeline Bergnee and Myriah Massey from Florida State 2-0, putting the duo in the ninth place bracket. In the ninth place bracket the duo won three matches to earn a ninth place finish in the tournament.
The duo of Honzovicova and McLaughlin started tournament play 2-0 before falling to Adams and Svozilova in a 2-0 final. The pairing earned a spot in the third place match, but fell to FSU’s Angeline Bergner and Myriah Massey 2-1. Finishing the tournament in fourth; just one spot short from a qualifying position for the AVCA Beach Championship.
The duo that dominated the tournament was Adams and Svozilova (pictured above, Dylan Vo). The pair went undefeated in pool play, and did not drop a set as they swept every opponent they faced. The Sandy Owls duo had their ticket punched to the AVCA Beach National Championship. There is a reason why they were seed #1.
In the silver pool, Florida Atlantic had five pairs competing including Kate Stoughton and Olivia Strandberg who finished the weekend 5-1 in pool play. Sofia Connor and Shaye Wolf also filled in for either Stoughton or Strandberg as alternates during the matches.
The Bronze pool is where the rest of the Sandy Owls roster played. Eleven players were a part of the two squads that played during the weekend in the lowest tier pool. FAU’s ninth squad starred Kelsie Roberts and Sydney Schroder who finished the weekend 2-1 as a duo together, the full squad finished 4-2. For Florida Atlantic’s tenth group, Riley Bear and Sofia Connor earned two victories together, but the squad finished 4-2 on the weekend.
Nov. 15-17 is the AVCA Beach National Championship which will crown the top duo in college beach volleyball. The Sandy Owls have two automatic bids with Adams and Svozilova being one of the duos going to represent FAU. The other pairing will be decided this week. The tournament championship is three days long and consists of 64 pairs.