Tavares, Fla. - A year after coming up one match short of a national championship, Hendrix finally lifted the holy grail.

The Warriors defeated Berry 3-2 on Sunday morning to win the 2023 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Small College Beach Championship under first-year head coach Ryan Havice.

Hendrix had already squared off with the Vikings once in pool play, winning by the same margin as well as at the Berry DIII Beach Bash earlier this season.

As had been the case with Berry all season, each line went to three sets. The Vikings took the first two lines, meaning the championship would be decided by the bottom three lines.

Faith Hill and Isabella Eurgill won the No. 5 spot to keep Hendrix's championship dreams alive.

The Warriors then fought off match points in epic fashion at the No. 3 spot thanks to Liz Roy and Meghan Fuller-Freeman as they rallied to win the third set in extra points.

With the match even at 2-2, all eyes turned to Morgan Ford and Mabrey Matz at the all-important No. 4 spot. Hendrix took the first set 21-17 before dropping the second set to force a decisive third set. The Warriors came out on top, winning the decisive set 15-11 to deliver the program its first-ever national championship.



Kyler Greenlee and Abby Collier were named All-Americans by the AVCA following their performances over the weekend, while Ford and Matz were named Pair of the Week by the AVCA and College Beach Volleyball (CBVB).

The Beach Warriors close their third year as a program with a 16-15 record, playing a challenging schedule that featured NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, and NAIA competition.