What you need to know:
* Sara Olivova and Jansen Button advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2015 AVCA Pairs Championships to earn All-America honors.
* The duo became the first Panthers to receive the honors for sand volleyball since Lane Carico in 2013.
* No. 10 seed Olivova and Button defeated the No. 7 seed before falling in three sets to the No. 2 seed in the bracket.
GULF SHORES, Ala. – Jansen Button and Sara Olivova from Georgia State's sand volleyball team were named AVCA All-Americans Sunday at the 2015 National Championships. The pair became the second and third Panthers to win the award for sand volleyball.
“It's an individual award, but Sara and Jansen will be the first to recognize the team's contribution to getting them here,” head coach Beth Van Fleet said. “These two had high-pressure matches today and they stepped up and played great.”
Competing in the pairs championships, No. 10 seed Jansen Button and Sara Olivova defeated No. 7 seed Melanie Pavels and Taylor Nyquist (Florida State) 21-14, 18-21, 15-13 in the first round of the tournament. After winning the first set, the Panther pair fell behind in Set 2, only to rally and tie the match at 8-8. FSU pulled away late to force a third set, in which Button and Olivova fell behind 10-8 before going on a run to win 15-13. Button recorded 19 kills and 15 digs while Olivova came up with two blocks and five aces.
In the quarterfinals, GSU ran into the No. 2 seed in the bracket, Betsi Metter and Sarah Sponcil from Loyola Marymount. Metter and Sponcil ran away in the first set, winning 21-11. Olivova and Button battled back in Set 2 to win 25-23, but couldn't hold off the Lion duo. LMU won 15-7 in the third set to knock out the Panther pair. Button once again tallied 19 kills and Olivova had a block and two aces. Metter and Sponcil advanced all the way to the finals where they lost to USC's Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes.
Both juniors, Olivova and Button are the first Panthers to earn AVCA All-America honors since Lane Carico in 2013. Playing in Flights 1-4 in the regular season, Olivova and Button went 23-11 to pass Katie Madewell as the winningest players in the program's three-year history (57).
CBS Sports Network will televise portions of the competition in a special broadcast that will premiere on Saturday, May 23 at 1 p.m. ET.
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