In what was a historic weekend for Chattanooga beach volleyball, the UTC duo of Neva Clark and McKenna Faychak are coming home having finished 43rd out of 64 pairs in attendance at the 2024 AVCA Beach National Championships hosted at The John Hunt Park San Volleyball Complex in Huntsville, Alabama.
Already making history for the program just by being there, becoming the first Mocs to ever appear in the tournament, Clark and Faychak went above and beyond with the duo qualifying for the Champions Bracket after upsetting the No.
24 pairing in attendance on Friday. The Chattanooga pair then carried their success into the consolation bracket by defeating the No. 30 ranked pairing out of LSU, yet another upset for the Mocs.
“Competing in the AVCA Pairs Tournament this weekend was an unforgettable experience,” Clark said. “Kenny (McKenna Faychak) and I have a strong, trusting partnership which allowed us to compete with some super talented teams this weekend.
“We were super proud to represent UTC at the tournament, and it was great to showcase the strength of our program while competing against some of the top talent in the country.”
Clark and Faychak would finish 2-4 during their time in Huntsville, earning the most wins of the three Ohio Valley Conference pairings that were invited to the tournament. The UTC pair earned their bid into the tournament after the Chattanooga beach volleyball team punched its ticket into the 2024 NCAA Team Tournament last season, which granted the Mocs one automatic bid into this weekend’s tournament.
The Mocs had a tall task to open their weekend, as Clark and Faychak were pitted against the tournament’s No. 9 seeds, Isabella Martinez and Logan Walter of Cal Poly, to open pool play. The Mocs gave the Top 10 ranked pair a fight in the first set, but it was ultimately the MASCOT duo that would prevail, taking the match 21-16, 21-9.
Not deterred by their first match, Clark and Faychak came out determined to make a statement in their second and final match of pool play against No. 24 Cameron Humphries and Kenzie Murphy of North Florida. After a dominant 21-13 win in the first set, Chattanooga battled through a grueling second frame before going on to claim a 21-18 win in set two. With the result, not only did the Mocs secure a major upset over the 24th ranked Ospreys, but Clark and Faychak clinched their place in the main Champions Bracket, which would kick off later that same day.
Matched up against a Power 4 foe in No. 46 Katarina Pantovic and Lauren Wilcock from Washington, the Mocs left everything they had out on the court in what was the pair’s third match of the day. Unfortunately for the Mocs, Washington went on to win the opening round match 21-11, 21-14, sending the Mocs into the consolation bracket heading into day two from Huntsville.
Clark and Faychak opened their day on Saturday with a consolation match against Tulane’s Samantha Green and Sara Hall, who came into the weekend ranked as the 49th best pairing. Once again, the Mocs would give their all in the match, but it was Tulane who would come away with a 21-15, 21-16 win.
This then put the UTC duo up against LSU’s Skylar Martin and Aubrey O’Gorman, a difficult Power 4 matchup for the Mocs that featured the No. 30 overall seed in the tournament. After dropping the first set 21-18, Clark and Faychak would flip the script on the 30th ranked Tigers by pulling off a reverse sweep win after claiming the next two sets 21-18 and 15-13. The victory marked Clark and Faychak’s second win over a Top 30 seed on the weekend, as well as the pair’s first Power 4 win on the sand.
To wrap up the weekend, Clark and Faychak then took on North Florida’s Presley Murray and Taylor Pierce on Sunday’s final day of action from Huntsville. Leaving every last bit of energy on the court, the Chattanooga pair would take the 27th ranked Ospreys to three sets before eventually falling 21-12, 19-21, 15-11 to close out the tournament.
Clark, Faychak and the rest of the Chattanooga beach volleyball squad will now have to wait until the turn of the New Year before they can get back into the swing of organized beach volleyball matches, but that doesn’t mean that fans won’t have an opportunity to see the 2025 team in action before then.
UTC beach volleyball is set to host its Blue-Gray Scrimmage on Monday, November 18 at 6 p.m. ET at the UTC Sports Complex. The event is free for the public to attend and will give the Scenic City its first peak at the defending OVC regular season and tournament champions!
UTC Match Results | November 15-17
Friday, November 15
Match 1: No. 9 Isabella Martinez/Logan Walter (Cal Poly) def. No. 56 Neva Clark/McKenna Faychak (UTC) 21-16, 21-9
Match 2: No. 56 Neva Clark/McKenna Faychak (UTC) def. No. 24 Cameron Humphries/Kenzie Murphy (North Florida) 21-13, 21-18
Match 3: No. 46 Katarina Pantovic/Lauren Wilcock (Washington) def. No. 56 Neva Clark/McKenna Faychak (UTC) 21-11, 21-14
Saturday, November 16
Match 4: No. 49 Samantha Green/Sara Hall (Tulane) def. No. 56 Neva Clark/McKenna Faychak (UTC) 21-15, 21-16
Match 5: No. 56 Neva Clark/McKenna Faychak (UTC) def. No. 30 Skylar Martin/Aubrey O’Gorman (LSU) 18-21, 21-18, 15-13
Sunday, November 17
Match 6: No. 27 Presley Murray/Taylor Pierce (North Florida) def. No. 56 Neva Clark/McKenna Faychak (UTC) 21-12, 19-21, 15-11