BVB | Brown, Shipman Pair up at AVCA Fall Beach Championships

Friday, November 4

Huntsville, AL

9:00 am

Saint Mary's College of California

Day 1

BVB | Brown, Shipman Pair up at AVCA Fall Beach Championships

11/6/2022 3:52:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The beach volleyball season saw an expansion into the fall semester, brand new for the 2022-23 season. This allows teams to give their student-athletes more experience and play in tournaments that feature some of the best teams in the country. Saint Mary's sent Karmin Brown and Sadie Shipman to Hunstville, Alabama for the inaugural AVCA Fall Beach Volleyball Championships this past weekend. Some of the toughest beach programs in the country were on their schedule through pool and bracket play, and the Gaels pair gained some very valuable experience to take back with them to California.

The tournament began with pool play on Friday, and the Gaels played three different teams, starting at 10:00 am local time. The Gaels met up with UCLA's second pair in the opening match, a rematch of sorts for the Gaels after they met up with the Bruins in Hawaii in February. Brown and Shipman also played against the top pair from Florida State, and from Charleston in subsequent matches during Friday's pool play.

"We are playing great competition that is really pushing us to play at a high level," Karmin Brown said after day one in Alabama. "We are excited to compete tomorrow and keep fighting hard and improving. It's been awesome to represent Saint Mary's all the way out here in Alabama and play some awesome talent we've never seen before. As a pair, we have adjusted to each of our opponents, and we have bene working hard for every point."

Their results from Friday put them into the 49^th bracket of the massive beach championship tournament. They drew South Carolina on Saturday morning in their first match of the day, and fell 2-0 to the second beach pair that South Carolina sent to the tournament. That afternoon, Saint Mary's earned their first win of the event, taking down UT Martin 2-1 after scoring a win in the deciding third set. This moved Saint Mary's into the semifinals of the 57^th bracket, where they would eventually fall on Sunday to New Orleans.

"Karmin and Sadie competed against some of the top programs in the nation, including national champion contenders that we rarely get to see UCLA and TCU," said head coach Gary Hodge. "They represented Saint Mary's with the grit and sportsmanship that Gaels are known for. I couldn't be more proud of how they played."

Brown is one of the returning beach volleyball players for Saint Mary's who has been a part of the program for a few seasons. Shipman is a newcomer, one of a large number of new beach recruits for the upcoming season. Both are expected to be two of the very best when the spring rolls around, and with a deeper roster than ever before, this experience was invaluable for two of the leaders of the program.

As it stands on their schedule, the Gaels will play one more fall exhibition contest against San Jose State on Sunday, November 20 at the home of the Spartans. More information about the spring portion of the beach schedule will be announced in the near future on SMCGaels.com.

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