Ohio Valley Conference

The final day of the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Beach Volleyball Championship presented by Sunbelt Bakery opens with the third place game between No. 2 UT Martin and No. 4 Lindenwood. The victor will move on to challenge No. 1 Chattanooga in a winner takes all match to decide the 2025 champion. The first contest of the day starts at 9:00 a.m. ET and is followed by the title match at 12:00 p.m.
 

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Both matches in the Ohio Valley Conference Beach Volleyball Championship tournament came down to third-set tiebreakers in the final pairing as the University of Tennessee at Martin came out on top in the semifinals against Lindenwood before falling in a heartbreaker in the finals to Chattanooga.
              
The Skyhawks advanced to the OVC championship match for the fourth time in the five-year history of the event but their bid for a third tournament title came up just short by the slimmest of margins. Three of the decisions in the finals against Chattanooga went into tiebreaking third sets while four of the results in the semifinal round against Lindenwood went into extended third sets.
              
UT Martin's No. 3 pairing of Lauren Mariscal/Jenna Vallée and No. 4 duo of Sydney Eckhardt/Reagan McGee each went 2-0 on the day, earning a spot on the OVC Championship All-Tournament Team. Both Skyhawk tandems went 3-1 in the tournament at their respective slots in the lineup.
 
In a rematch of the 2024 OVC semifinals, UT Martin avenged last season's setback against the Lions (15-14). After the Skyhawks' No. 5 pair of Kristin Phillips/Kylie Surratt barely fell by a 19-21, 21-15, 15-9 margin to start the match, UT Martin got on the scoreboard via a 21-14, 17-21, 15-12 win from Eckhardt/McGee. Lindenwood was able to win at No. 2 as Bryant/O'Keefe fell 21-18, 21-14 but the Skyhawks nabbed the remaining two points. Riley Rushing/Dylan Sulcer came through for a 21-16, 16-21, 15-8 triumph at No. 1 before Mariscal/Vallée sent UT Martin into the finals with a dramatic 21-15, 17-21, 17-15 victory.
              
The top-seeded Mocs (26-5) took the first point as Phillips/Surratt were defeated 21-13, 21-13 at No. 5. Eckhardt/McGee delivered a big 23-21, 21-14, 15-8 win to even the match at 1-all after the first wave. Bryant/O'Keefe fell 21-19, 21-11 at No. 2 but Mariscal/Vallée generated a clutch 24-22, 21-15 victory to event the match at 2-all. Rushing/Sulcer opened their No. 1 matchup with a 24-22 win but ultimately Chattanooga's OVC Pair of the Year Neva Clark and Corina Vale came out on top with 21-15 and 15-9 victories to complete the comeback.
              
The Skyhawks conclude the season with a 24-10 record, recording the second-most single-season victories in the history of the program. Six different UT Martin representatives combined for seven OVC postseason awards while the Skyhawks boasted the OVC Pair of the Week four separate times in 2025.

#1 CHATTANOOGA 3, #2 UT MARTIN 2
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - For the second consecutive season, the Chattanooga beach volleyball team punched its ticket into the NCAA Tournament after the Sandy Mocs defeated UT Martin 3-2 to become Ohio Valley Conference tournament champions on Saturday at the UTC Sports Complex.

In front of a raucous home crowd at the UTC Sports Complex, the Mocs (26-5, 10-0 OVC) fought through one of the team's most dramatic matches in program history as it took all five courts to get the job done. However, it was ultimately the reigning back-to-back OVC Pair of the Year of Neva Clark and Corina Vale who dealt the clinching blow on Court 1 for the Mocs, securing yet another title for the Sandy Moc Dynasty.

Both Clark and Vale, as well as UTC's Court 5 pairing of Sydney Jackwin and Ansley Gulledge received spots on the OVC's All-Tournament Team for their efforts over the course of the championship weekend. Jackwin and Gulledge were ultimately named as OVC Tournament MVPs after finishing the tournament 3-0 as a pair.

The 2025 OVC title match lived up to the hype right from the get-go as both the Mocs and Skyhawks had their sights set on booking a trip to Gulf Shores. For the championship match formatting, it would be Courts 4 and 5 that would get things underway.

Chattanooga's Court 5 pairing drew first blood in the in-state rivalry, as the OVC Tournament MVPs Sydney Jackwin and Ansley Gulledge got the ball rolling in favor of the Mocs. The No. 5 duo was dominant in their match, as they have been all weekend, picking up back-to-back 21-13 set wins to put the Mocs up 1-0 early-on in the contest.

The Sandy Mocs then looked to Joy Courtright and Julia Lawrence on Court 4 in what truly was a pivotal match in the game. With a win the Mocs would move just one more victory away from the title, while a loss would level things out for the Skyhawks at the turn.

Courtright and Lawrence got straight to work, feeding off of the crowd's energy to put together a 21-13 win in the opening set of their match. UT Martin responded right back, however, forcing a third frame after a 21-14 result in the second. It was then the Skyhawks that dealt the final blow on Court 4, as the UTM duo earned a 15-8 win in the third set to officially level things out at 1-1 as Courts 1, 2 and 3 got ready to get underway.

All attention then turned to the top three pairings of the day, as a season of a lifetime for the Sandy Mocs relied on just two more victories out on the beach. All three matches provided thrilling first sets as across the board the opening set scores read: 24-22, 21-19 and 24-22.

McKenna Faychak and Maddie Lecik were the lone UTC pair to win their first set in that Top 3 grouping, as Faychak and Lecik grinded out a 21-19 victory to open their match. Galvanized by their tight win in the first, 'Kenny and Lee' left no doubt in their second set as the pair cruised to a 21-11 victory to seal a straight-set sweep on Court 2 that put the Mocs ahead 2-1.

Once again, the Skyhawks found a response though as UT Martin's Court 3 duo snuck out a narrow 24-22 win over Paige Gallentine and Kit Gresham to kick off their matchup in the No. 3 position. While the senior duo of Gallentine and Gresham left all that they could out on the court in what was their final match at the UTC Sports Complex, the Skyhawks nabbed another 21-15 victory in the second, leveling out the score once more at 2-2.

It was here that the weight of the match, and the season, fell on Court 1. Chattanooga's top flight pair, Neva Clark and Corina Vale, found themselves in an early hole having dropped the opening set of their match 24-22. It would be over the next two sets, however, that Clark/Vale proved why they are back-to-back OVC Pair of the Year award winners for the Mocs.

Clark and Vale went to work in the second frame, powering past UTM's No. 1 duo with a 21-15 win. At this point, the record crowd at UTC Sports Complex was at a fever pitch as Chattanooga's season came down to a third and final set.

From the start of the third frame, Clark and Vale proved they had nerves of steel and were up for the challenge as the UTC pair inched closer and closer to the thrilling conclusion of Championship Saturday. Every shot for the Mocs fell while every attempt from the Skyhawks had an answer, and it looked as though no one was going to stop Clark and Vale from willing the Mocs to the victory.

With the scoreboard reading 14-9 in favor of Clark/Vale, it was one last point from the senior Neva Clark that sealed the deal for the Sandy Mocs. The three-time Player of the Year, with her final career point at the UTC Sports Complex, had just clinched the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference title for Chattanooga.

It was a dream realized for a woman who has given everything to building up Chattanooga beach volleyball to what it is today. Not only does she leave behind a legacy; she leaves behind a dynasty.