KINGSVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Beach Volleyball just had a successful opening weekend in Kingsville, and the Texans will be right back there for another round of matches this weekend.
 
The Texans (3-1) won their first three matches this past Friday-Saturday at the Javelina Beach Classic. This Friday-Saturday they will be part of the Javelina Beach Showdown featuring UTEP, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Wayland Baptist and Colorado Mesa.
 
The Texans will open play Friday at 10 a.m. against UTEP, the first meeting in Tarleton's short history, a fellow Conference USA program when it comes to beach volleyball. The Miners opened up 3-2 last weekend at the Third Coast College Classic in Houston, beating Central Arkansas 4-1, McNeese 3-2 and Sam Houston 5-0, with losses against Houston Christian 3-2 and Texas 5-0.
 
After their bout with UTEP, Tarleton State and Wayland Baptist will rematch at 4 p.m. on Friday. The Texans swept WBU 5-0 in their second match last week, four of the five courts going to Tarleton in straight sets.
 
On Saturday at 10 a.m., Tarleton State will have a neutral site match against Colorado Mesa out of the NCAA Division II's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Mavericks are 4-2 to start the year with an opening 4-1 doubleheader sweep of Benedictine University in Mesa, Arizona, on Feb. 20. CMU then played in Phoenix this past Saturday, opening 2-0 for a four-match winning streak to start the season with a 4-1 win against Ottawa University Arizona and a 5-0 victory against Arizona Christian. CMU then lost twice against Saint Mary's at Grand Canyon, both matches 3-2 at the GCU Beach Volleyball Stadium. Last year, Colorado Mesa took third at the AVCA Small College Beach Championships.
 
To wrap up the Javelina Beach Showdown, the Texans and Javelinas will rematch on Saturday at 2 p.m. This past Saturday, Texas A&M-Kingsville defeated Tarleton State 4-1, with the Texans' lone win coming on Court 5 via Olivia Fuentes and Charlize Ching.
 
Fuentes and Ching are the lone undefeated pair remaining for the Texans, starting 2025 4-0. They won three of their first four matches in straight sets, including the first two with neither opponent reaching 15 points in a set. Possible opponents this weekend include Wayland Baptist's Makenna Gantt and Grace Pavelka, who Fuentes and Ching beat 21-10 21-14, and Kingsville's Cl Presmanes-Garate and Elizabeth Williams, who the Texans defeated 21-16 21-19.
 
Tarleton's top two courts last week went 3-1 across the weekend. On Court 1, Allison Bryant and Emma Halcomb beat Wayland Baptist's Emily Buchberger and Selma Sutaj 21-9 17-21 15-7, Texas Wesleyan's Kali Liva and Victoria Smith 21-18 21-9 and Mary Hardin-Baylor's Julianna Green and Natasha Thoms 21-15 21-10.
 
On Court 2, Grayson Schirpik and Bella Parayno beat Wayland Baptist's Carlee Heidebrecht and Martyna Lewinska 21-12 21-10, Texas Wesleyan's Emily Lewis and Emily White 21-12 17-21 15-13, and Mary Hardin-Baylor's Kelli Northup and Heidi Farrar 21-18 16-21 15-13.
 
Tarleton had the same pairings across all four matches last week, with Amaya Brown and Christian Mitchell going 2-2 on Court 3 and Hayden Huber with Jayda Harris-Amete going 2-2 on Court 4. Both Texan pairs beat their Wayland Baptist counterparts and both lost to their Javelina opponents.
 
Tarleton State has already surpassed its number of wins from the inaugural campaign last year.
 
There will not be live scoring or a stream at the Javelina Beach Showdown. Results and updates can be found at Tarleton State Beach Volleyball's social media accounts and www.tarletonsports.com.