Pickett, Harper Collect Another Sand Tournament Victory

Carson-Newman volleyball’s Kristen Pickett (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) brought home another sand volleyball tournament championship. 

The duo won the Nashville Beach Women’s Doubles Tournament two weeks after qualifying for National Sand Collegiate Volleyball Association’s tournament at the World Series of Beach Volleyball July 24 in Long Beach, Calif.

Pickett and Harper won their pool, but then lost in the opening round of a double elimination section of the tournament.  The duo battled back to win five straight matches, including a decision over teammates Kristina Hill (Lake Orion, Mich.) and Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.), to make the title game.

Once there, Pickett and Harper beat the same team that had put them in the loser’s bracket twice to bring home the championship.  Hill and Santarelli finished third in the event.