Fisher and Dukawicz place third at NJCAA Pairs Event

HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — Madison Fisher and Autumn Dukawicz, Wake Tech beach volleyball's #1 pair, placed third at this week's inaugural NJCAA Pairs Event. 16 pairs from other NJCAA member schools made up the field for the event, and Fisher and Dukawicz were invited after a strong season for the Eagles. 

In their opening match, the pair defeated Central Community College (NE) in straight sets (21-13, 21-10), before dropping a close match to Central Wyoming (21-16, 21-16). 

Their opening win propelled them into the gold bracket for elimination play, where they were first matched up with a pair from Trinidad State. Fisher and Dukawicz picked up their second win of the event against the Trojans (21-14, 21-19). 

Their second elimination match up came against the eventual champions from State College of Florida. Ava Mohler and Liliana Palacios were a talented pair, but the Eagles had them on the ropes after taking the first set 21-17. The Manatees leveled it after taking the second set 21-16, and ultimately sealed the match with a 15-12 win in a decisive third set. 

In the third place match, the Eagles faced off against the second pair from Trinidad State, and ultimately picked up their third win of the tournament (19-21, 24-22, 19-17). It was closely contested and went the distance, and the Eagles needed 19 points to clinch their victory in the third set.