Juric/Wegner Head to AVCA National Championships
Apr 28, 2015 | Women's Beach Volleyball
National Championships Home Page
NEW ORLEANS -- Returning to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for the second consecutive year, Tea Juric and Jackie Wegner will represent the Tulane sand volleyball program at the AVCA National Pairs Championships this weekend. The Green Wave qualified for Pool B of the `Best of the Rest' portion of the tournament starting Friday, May 1, for a chance to enter the 16-pair bracket on Sunday for the national title.
"I definitely think there's an increased level of comfortability with being there before," Wegner said. "It allows us to focus more on the match and our game plan."
"We have our goals set higher than they were last year," Juric added. "To be there again and trying to get those top-two pool seeds and go deeper should be a lot of fun."
The top two pairs in each pool will automatically advance to Sunday's bracket, as the third place team in each pool will have to compete in a play-in match vs. the No. 2 pair from the third and fourth place teams from the team championships portion. In addition, the eight top pairs from the team championship schools and the top two from the finalists will also be entered.
On Friday, Juric and Wegner will kick things off with UCLA's Zoe Nightingale and Kamila Tan at 11 a.m. CT. Then, the Tulane pairing will immediately turn around and battle College of Charleston's Melissa Morello and Catey Warren at 1 p.m. The Green Wave previously defeated Morello and Warren, 22-20, 21-17 in Charleston, South Carolina, back on March 27.
On Saturday, Juric/Wegner will return to the dunes at Noon to clash with Arizona's Madi Kingdon and Kaitlyn Leary, a Wildcat pairing that defeated Tulane's Lan Nguyen and Maddy Mertz in straight sets on March 7. Next, the Wave wrap pool play with Grand Canyon's Shannon Dugan and Mackenzie Phelps at 2 p.m.
Sunday's Championship Bracket will feature 16 pairs all starting at 8 a.m. CT. Each next round is designated to begin in two hour intervals, thus the championship match is slated for 2 p.m.
Last year, Juric and Wegner became the first tandem in program history to qualify for the postseason, ultimately finishing 19-15 on the year. In the 2015, the duo got even better, achieving a career high mark of 27-8. In fact, Juric/Wegner have won 13 of their past 15 matches.
"When you go on this kind of stage, every match is going to be close and at a high level," Wegner stated. "We got to be able to go out there and maintain our intensity for the three days."
Pool A
1. Loyola Marymount's Betsi Metter & Sarah Sponcil
2. Louisiana Monroe's Marcella Araya & Michelle McNamee
3. LSU's Mandi Orellana & Katie Lindelow
4. Arizona's McKenna Witt & Madison Witt
5. UAB's Kiriana Hirini & Bethanie Thomas
Pool B
1. Grand Canyon's Shannon Dugan & Mackenzie Phelps
2. Tulane's Tea Juric & Jackie Wegner
3. Arizona's Madi Kingdon & Kaitlyn Leary
4. College of Charleston's Melissa Morello & Catey Warren
5. UCLA's Zoe Nightingale & Kamila Tan
Team Championships
1. USC
2. Hawaii
3. FIU
4. Pepperdine
5. Georgia State
6. Florida State
7. Long Beach State
8. Stetson
