The UCA beach volleyball team began its 2023 season under first-year head coach Cassidi Stabile, who joined the program in the summer of 2022 after being an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin.

The Bears competed in the Houston Christian University Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 25, and Sunday, Feb. 26.

Central Arkansas faced off against the host team on the first day of the tournament, losing the morning matches 5-0 versus Houston Christian.

Junior Bria Garmon and sophomore Ryenne Gepford were a dynamic duo battling in the first match for the Bears. 

Garmon earned Southland first-team all-conference awards in the 2021 season, and Gepford was named the 2023 ASUN conference beach volleyball preseason player of the year. 

Despite a hard fight from the accomplished pair, the Bears were upended in two sets versus the number one pairing of senior Maddie Butters and junior Alison Stanfill for the Huskies, 22-20 and then 21-12.

Seniors Evelyn Griffith and Julia Oravec demonstrated their experience and chemistry playing together, forcing their match to three sets, but the doubles team of senior Lindsay Harris and junior Kristen Kleymeyer for Houston Christian emerged victorious in the tiebreaker set, 15-9.

Freshman Madelyn White and junior Charlie Tidwell put up a valiant effort in their first set against Houston Christian, losing 21-18, then dropping the second set 21-12. 

The afternoon matches of day one saw Central Arkansas clash against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The Bears were unable to take a set against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, resulting in a straight-set victory for the Islanders. 

Graduate student Kayla Cook and junior Payton Sproule had victory on the tips of their fingers in their first set before losing 21-18, then ultimately lost the match with a second set defeat of 21-14. 

Freshman Anna Linskey and junior Marissa Gilmore battled hard for the Bears, before facing defeat at the pairing of sophomore Jade Bennett and junior Tori Johnson, the number three squad for the Islanders. 

The first matchup on day two of the tournament featured the Bears battling against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The pairing of Tidwell and White got the first match win for UCA on the season against the Blazers in just two sets, 21-14 and 21-16.

Cook and Sproule, the number four team for the Bears, won their first set 21-15, dropped the second set, and then lost the decisive third set, 15-12. 

The remainder of the day felt much like day one for the Bears, getting close, but unable to win sets, the Blazers won 4-1, moving them to 3-0 all-time against the Bears. 

UCA will get a few chances at redemption against UAB this season, the first being in the Louisiana State University Tournament on March 4. 

The Bears faced off against a goliath in Texas Christian University on Sunday afternoon, the third-ranked team in the nation, losing 5-0 to the Horned Frogs. 

Texas Christian University is fresh off of a trip to the NCAA tournament, so the Bears knew they were going to pose a considerable challenge.

Griffith and Oravec were the closest to upsetting the Horned Frogs but fell on the wrong end of two 21-14 sets.

UCA will be back in action on Saturday, March 4 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where they will take on Southeastern Louisiana and then University of Alabama at Birmingham on day one of the LSU tournament.