SAINT LEO, Fla. – The three-seed Saint Leo University beach volleyball team closed out its run in the inaugural Sunshine State Conference championship. The host team fell in both matches on the final day as it looked to advance to the championship match. Saint Leo was swept by the top-seed and eventual SSC champion Tampa Spartans before dropping a close 3-2 match to the two-seed Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish. The Lions head to next week's AVCA Small College Beach Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama with a 14-10 overall record.
 
Tampa quickly got to work over the Lions in the semifinal match earning wins on courts two, five, and four. Saint Leo claimed just a single set victory from its number one pair. Jeanette Henderson and Emma Miller forced a third set with a 21-17 second set victory as the number one pair.
 
Saint Leo's Saturday match against Palm Beach Atlantic ended with the same excitement as Friday's match but this time it was the Sailfish that ended with the victory. PBA jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a win by its number two pair. Henderson and Miller earned a 21-17 and 21-14 win as the number one pair to tie the match at 1-1. After the Sailfish took identical 21-17 set wins on the number three court, the Lions five pair of Emma Laade and Reagan Hopp needed extra points to win both sets 22-20 as the duo forced the match decision to come down to court number four. Erin Johnson and Paula Perez Rosales rallied for a 21-14 second set victory before the falling 15-11 in the final set as the Sailfish clinched their spot in the championship final match.
 
(1) Tampa 3, (3) Saint Leo 0
1. Jeanette Henderson/Emma Miller (SLU) vs. Elizabeth Price/Angel Williams (UT) 13-21, 21-17, 4-6 UF
2. Nevaeh Wolfe/Hailey Wolfe (UT) def. Brenna Reinhard/Tajma Muharemovic (SLU) 21-11, 21-15
3. Kayla David/Oliwia Durka (SLU) vs. Madelynn Hokanson/Hailey Peterson (UT) 15-21, 21-22 UF
4. Anna Bayes/Brooke Green (UT) def. Erin Johnson/Paula Perez Rosales (SLU) 24-22, 21-14
5. Sammie Ostrander/Meghan Schreck (UT) def. Emma Laade/Reagan Hopp (SLU) 21-9, 21-17
 
ORDER OF FINISH: 2, 5, 4
 
(2) Palm Beach Atlantic 3, (3) Saint Leo 2
1. Jeanette Henderson/Emma Miller (SLU) def. Anna Dunbar/Serena Baumgart (PBA) 21-17, 21-14
2. Camdyn Albrecht/Katelyn Nadeau (PBA) def. Brenna Reinhard/Tajma Muharemovic (SLU) 21-13, 21-18
3. Abby Plevin/Annika Huhtamaki (PBA) def. Kayla David/Oliwia Durka (SLU) 21-17, 21-17
4. Sydney Corbett/Savannah DeCarlo (PBA) def. Erin Johnson/Paula Perez Rosales (SLU) 21-19, 14-21, 15-11
5. Emma Laade/Reagan Hopp (SLU) def. Angela Goggin/Cameron Ring (PBA) 22-20, 22-20
 
ORDER OF FINISH: 2, 1, 3, 5, 4
 
UP NEXT
Saint Leo heads to Gulf Shores, Alabama next week to take on the AVCA Small College Beach Volleyball Championships, April 17-19.