by Chris Pfaff, Xavier Sportswriter

Regarding team competition, Xavier Beach Volleyball finished an outstanding season on Wednesday night at Casteel High School, site of the AIA Division 1 and Division 2 State Beach Volleyball Championships.

Xavier and Sandra Day O’Connor played just three of the five matches before the Eagles were crowned. The Twos, Threes, and Fours matches went to the Sandra Day, so the Ones and Fives Pairs did not need to play. O’Connor wins 3-0.

Xavier entered the State Tournament seeded #3 in spite of the following resume:

• 11-1 regular season record
• Only loss: to undefeated Sandra Day O’Connor
• 8 shutouts (5-0) in 12 regular season matches

During State, the Gators shut out their first two opponents and then beat the #2 seed, Notre Dame Prep.

Facing Sandra Day O’Connor in the State Final presented a tall order for Xavier. As stated earlier, the Eagles were undefeated. They blanked all but two teams during the regular season. They shut out Xavier during the regular season, and they defeated #2-seed Notre Dame Prep 4-1. In other words, they were in a class by themselves.

Congrats to Coach Tim McHale, his coaching staff, and the student-athletes, who worked hard and competed at a high level throughout the season. The Gators had an awesome and outstanding season.

The Division 1 Pairs State Tournament begins next Monday, May 5. Our Xavier Ones Pair and Twos Pair qualified for State, which will be played at Casteel High School.

The Xavier Twos Pair, Kylie Barr ’26 / Emma Robescu ’26, are unranked, and they play another unranked pairs team — Gorder / Kuang from AZ College Prep — in Monday’s first round.

The Xavier Ones Pair, Holly Matchinski ’25 / Kate McDonald ’26, drew a #3 State rank and a first-round bye. They begin play in Round Two on Wednesday, May 7.

Division 1 Pairs Tournament Bracket

Go Gators!