ST. PETERSUBRG, Fla. (March 2 2018) – The Webber International University beach volleyball team hit the road for the first time during its current 2018 campaign, and the Warriors came out of the 2018 Eckerd College Battle on the Bay with a few good results, defeating NCAA Division-I Morehead State University and NCAA Division-II Florida Southern College both by scores of 3-2. The Warriors also lost to the University of Tampa for the second time this season, falling 4-1, and dropped a 5-0 defeat to tournament host Eckerd College.

At the No. 1 spot, Webber's top duo of Carlee Baxter and Emily Bowen finished the day 2-2, cruising to wins over Morhead State's top duo 21-13, 21-12 and Florida Southern 21-11, 21-13. Against Tampa, Baxter and Bowen forced a third set before falling late (21-19, 17-21, 15-11).

At the No. 2 spot, Amber Lake and Hannah Tannone matched Baxter and Bowen with wins over Morehead State (21-16, 21-17) and Florida Southern (21-17, 21-19). The pair of sophomores also fell in a close third set to Eckerd (21-6, 17-21, 15-12) and put up a good fight against Tampa before falling 21-19, 21-16 in two sets.

Salla Rautiainen and Laura Embry teamed up in the No. 3 slot to take down Morehead State 21-15, 21-18 as the Warriors earned a win in each of the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 positions over the Eagles. Against Tampa, Rautiainen and Embry were three-set winners at 21-19, 15-21, 15-12.

Like Lake and Tannone, Rautiainen and Embry also forced three sets against Eckerd before falling 21-14, 19-21, 15-8. Against Florida Southern, Rautiainen and Embry dropped set one 21-17 before fighting hard in the second set and forcing extra scoring, falling 24-22.

In the No. 4 position, freshmen Molly Fusarelli and Kobi Allston earned an important 21-11, 18-21, 15-13 win over Florida Southern that helped the Warriors secure the overall team victory.

In the first match of the day against Morehead State, Kaxandra Naranjo and Jessica Terry nearly made it four wins in the match for Webber as the pair split the first two sets 22-24, 21-12 before coming up just short in the final set 15-12.

Webber's next match will come in more tournament action as the Warriors head to Boca Raton, Florida, for the Florida Atlantic University Burrow Beach Bash. The Warriors will battle host FAU at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 9, and then on the same day will play Florida Gulf Coast University at 2 p.m. Webber and Houston Baptist College will square off on Saturday, March 10, at 11 a.m. as Webber plays three straight matches against NCAA Division-I teams.