STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Beach Volleyball is cruising at the most important time of the season, going 4-0 to end its 2026 regular season heading into the C-USA Championship.
The Texans (10-16) outscored their opponents 19-1 across the four matches Thursday-Friday in Stephenville, beating Howard Payne 5-0 twice on Thursday, Mary Hardin-Baylor 4-1 on Friday morning and then East Texas Baptist 5-0 on Friday afternoon.
Tarleton State ended its regular season with a perfect 6-0 home mark, and capped it off with a Senior Day celebration on Friday, honoring
Allison Bryant and
Jayda Harris-Amete.
Bryant and
Candace Ceballos went 4-0 on Court 1 across the two days, defeating Howard Payne's Emilee Casey and Samantha Torres 21-10 21-11 in the first match, then 21-15 21-9 in the second match. On Friday, Bryant and Ceballos beat UMHB's Julianna Green and Shelbee Adkins 21-16 21-8, then ETBU's Paige Dickson and Boston Morin 21-14 21-7. Bryant and Ceballos are now 15-11 together, owning the most wins on the team, 11-10 on Court 1 and 4-1 on Court 2.
One other Texan pair went 4-0 together across the two days. On Court 4,
Salome Galvez Lira and
Taylor Orris rolled through their opponents, defeating HPU's Jadyn White and Ashlyn Kelly 21-14 21-12, then 21-12 21-13, UMHB's Natasha Thoms and Heidi Farrar 21-11 16-21 15-8, and ETBU's Caitlyn Ellenburg and Emily Thomas 21-12 17-21 15-7.
On Court 5,
Angelina Linke and
Sofia Bendele went 3-0, winning 21-5 21-5 against HPU's Baylee Burns and Carli Briese in the first match, then 15-21 21-10 15-11 against UMHB's Natalie Hughes and Ashley Salas, and finally 21-10 21-19 over ETBU's Morgan Cox and Emmaley Matz. In the second match against HPU, Harris-Amete and
Theresa Habrik defeated Burns and Briese 21-12 21-12.
Bella Parayno went 4-0 across the board, paired with
Christian Mitchell on Court 3 in the first match, then with
Hayden Huber on Court 2 the remaining matches. Parayno and Mitchell beat HPU's Morgan Cox and Emmaley Matz 21-10 21-12. Parayno and Huber defeated HPU's Tara Bennett and Sydnie Mullins 21-9 21-16, then UMHB's Faith Clark and Jacie Perkins 22-20 21-15, and ETBU's Bella Fields and Cecilia Jalufka 21-11 21-14.
Camilla Chun and
Emily Vickers went 3-1 together, with a 1-0 spot on Court 2 and a 2-1 spot on Court 3. Chun and Vickers won the opening match over HPU's Bennett and Mullins 21-9 21-19 on Court 2. They then defeated HPU's Bella Fields and Cecilia Jalufka 21-18 21-12 on Court 3. The Texan pair suffered a loss to UMHB, with Kendall Harrington and Saige De La Fuente winning 21-19 21-16. Chun and Vickers responded with a 21-19 21-17 win over ETBU's Kendall Harrington and Saige De La Fuente.
The Texans will now pour their focus into the conference tournament, which will commence April 23-26 in Youngsville, Louisiana.
