*SUNDAY UPDATE* ATLANTA - Georgia State's top flight, junior Katie Madewell and Lane Carico, won the inaugural GSU Sand Invite Gold Bracket and finished with a 6-1 record over the weekend.
Madewell and Carico defeated Florida State's No. 2 pair, Julie Brown and Melanie Pavels, in straight sets to claim the title. Along the way, they defeated Florida State's No. 1 pair, Tulane's No. 2 flight and Louisiana-Monroe's No. 2 flight. Their only loss came in the second round to Louisiana-Monroe's No. 1 flight in a tough three-set loss. However, because Madewell and Carico were playing in the gold bracket, they were able to take advantage of the double-elimination set-up and move back into the winner's bracket.
Georgia State's No. 2 flight, Jansen Button and Sara Olivova, lost both of their Gold Bracket matches in three long battles with Tulane's No. 1 pair and Florida State's No. 1 duo.
In the Silver Bracket, which was just single elmination, the championship match featured Florida State's No. 3 and 4 pairs. Mallory Kiley and Sarah Wickstrom defeated Katherine Plessy and Aurora Davis, 21-14, 21-16, in the final match. In their route to the championship, Kiley and Wickstrom defeated Georgia State's No. 3 pair of Milani Pickering and Katelyn Rawls in a three-set nail-biter, 25-23, 15-21, 15-9.
"First, we would like to thank facilities, marketing and the sports information staffs for all their hard work this weekend," coach Tami Audia said after the tournament. "We had a wonderful crow of fans all weekend, and we were very happy to have all the girls compete.
"We had several matches that were very close, and I think they were close because of the way have practiced and how much focus and time the team is putting in. Lane and Katie had a great weekend. They overcame their loss to Louisiana-Monroe to come out and win our inaugural tournament, which was great to see."
SATURDAY
Georiga State opened play Saturday morning with a 4-1 win over Louisiana-Monroe in the second match of the four in the inaugural GSU Sand Invitational on campus.
No. 3 Florida State (10-2) started the first match with a 5-0 win over No. 9 Tulane. ULM (6-5) then rebounded to hand Tulane (7-4) a 4-1 loss in the final team match of the day.
In the afternoon, FSU (11-2) topped the host Panthers, 4-1. GSU's #1 tandem of Lane Carico and Katie Madewell improved to 11-3 on the season with wins in both the morning and afternoon matches. GSU's top pair handed FSU's #1 its third loss of the season. GSU's No. 2 flight, Jansen Button and Sara Olivova fought to the third set before bowing to FSU's tandem. That match was 21-18, 17-21 and 15-11. GSU sits at 6-7 in team play in its inaugural sand volleyball season.
In the morning match, the host Panthers got the first two important points when both the No. 4 and No. 5 teams won in the 10:30 matches. Milani Pickering and Katelyn Rawls posted tough 24-22 and 21-17 wins at the No. 4 slot. Alexis Townsend and Karlee Kavanaugh came through for GSU with a 21-16 and 21-15 sweep at the No. 5 flight.
When the 1, 2 and 3 pairs took the courts at 11:30, GSU needed just one win to pick up the third and deciding point. That came when the No. 1 team of Lane Carico and Katie Madewell swept to a 21-17 and 21-15 win. That was ULM's No. 1 pair's first loss of the season. GSU's No. 2 duo of Jansen Button and Sara Olivova battled to a 21-18, 21-16 decision to make it 4-0. ULM closed out the match with a win at No. 3, with 24-22 and 21-13 scores over GSU's tandem of Alexis Elmurr and Molly Smestad.
In the opening round of the Gold Bracket, Carico and Madewell cruised over Tulane's Courtney Liddle and Elysa Jackson, 21-9 and 21-10. Button and Olivova lost a three-set heartbreaker to Tulane's No. 1 pair of Sophie Asprey and Cori Martone. The match was 19-21, 21-15, 19-17 for the Green Wave.
A spring-like day in Atlanta made the matches enjoyable for players and the 335 fans in attendance. The early-morning chill quickly warmed with the bright sunshine and temperatures rose to 70 degrees with low humidity.
The Panthers will compete next in an eight-team tournament this weekend in Siesta Key, Florida, south of Tampa.
