Florida State Heads to NCAA Title Match; UCLA, Hawaii Still Alive

  0 Wendy Mayer | May 05th, 2018 | Big West, CCSA, College - Beach, News, Pac-12, West Coast Conference

NCAA Beach Championships

Florida State is on the fast track to the championship, topping No. 3 seed Hawaii 3-2 and moving on to the championship match. In a duel that featured four three-set matches, it came down to Court 5 where Francesca Goncalves/Madison Fitzpatrick squeaked past Hannah Zalopany/Paige Dreeuws  24-22, 21-23, 15-12 to end the Sandbows’ 32 match duel win streak. Hawaii’s Court 4 duo Amy Ozee/Ari Homayun got the scoring started with a straight set win. From there, the Seminoles took courts 1 and 3. Hawaii answered with a win on Court 4 moments later. All eyes turned to court 5, where Fitzpatrick placed the ball in the back right corner to sew up the victory. 

Elimination Matches

The fifth time proved to be the charm for USC, as the Women of Troy stayed alive in the NCAA Championships with a 3-2 win over No. 2 Pepperdine in an elimination match to start Saturday’s action. Coming into the match, the Waves were a perfect 4-0 against USC in 2018 after falling to the Women of Troy in the 2017 National Championship match. In the end, it came down to Court 4 where Alexandra Poletto/Haley Hallgren edged past Skylar Caputo/Alexis Filippone in three sets: 21-18, 15-21, 15-12.

Caputo/Filippone had won all four matches on Court 4 in the previous meetings, although just one had been against Poletto/Hallgren as a duo.

The loss ended the storied career of Pepperdine coach Nina Matthies, who announced she would retire at season’s end. The Waves end the season at 25-5.

No. 1 seed UCLA made quick work of No. 7 seed LSU in the day’s second elimination match. The Bruins won the opening set on all five courts and secured the 3-0 win with victories on courts 1, 2 and 3. Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil got the first point of the match on Court 2, dominating 21-10, 21-8. Savvy Simo/Zana Muno followed on Court 3 and Nicole McNamara/Megan McNamara sealed the victory on Court 1 to keep the Bruins alive in the tournament and send LSU packing.

The Women of Troy and the Bruins faced off to the end the day’s action with the season on the line. UCLA boasted a 4-1 lead in the season series, including each of the last three, two at the Pac-12 Championships last week. The Bruins came through with a 3-1 win in a back-and-forth battle that saw UCLA take Set 1 on all five courts and USC answer with four wins in Set 2. The lone exception was a Court 3 sweep by Zana Muno/Savvy Simo. Izzy Carey/Megan Muret were the first to finish in tiebreak, giving UCLA a Court 5 win. Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater answered for USC on Court 2 to make it 2-1. It was a toss up at to whether Court 1 or Court 4 would decide it. The McNamara sisters had several set-point tries on Court 1, but USC answered each bringing it to 17-all. On Court 4, Mac May/Elise Zappia came through in the meantime with a 15-9 win to send UCLA on to Sunday.

 

USC def. Pepperdine 3-2

  1. Tina Graudina/Alex Bustamante (USC) def. Deahna Kraft/Corinne Quiggle (Pepperdine) 21-11, 21-18
  2. Maddy Roh/Brook Bauer (Pepperdine) def. Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater (USC) 23-21, 21-16
  3. Gigi Hernandez/Heidi Dyer (Pepperdine) def. Joy Dennis/Cammie Dorn (USC) 21-18, 21-14
  4. Alexandra Poletto/Haley Hallgren (USC) def. Skylar Caputo/Alexis Filippone (Pepperdine) 21-18, 15-21, 15-12
  5. Jenna Belton/Maia Kaiser (USC) def. Maddie Dilfer/Nikki Lyons (Pepperdine) 21-18, 21-16

Pepperdine is eliminated

 

UCLA def. LSU 3-0 

  1. Nicole McNamara/Megan McNamara (UCLA) vs. Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (LSU) 21-10, 21-17
  2. Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) vs. Haleigh Nelson/Mandi Orellana (LSU) 21-10, 21-8
  3. Savvy Simo/Zana Muno (UCLA) vs. Olivia Powers/Hunter Domanski (LSU) 21-13, 21-15
  4. Elise Zappia/Mac May (UCLA) vs. Emmy Allen/Megan Davenport (LSU) 23-21, 14-21, DNF
  5. Izzy Carey/Megan Muret (UCLA) vs. Riley Young/Maddie Ligon (LSU) 21-16, 20-20 DNF

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*

LSU is eliminated

 

Florida State def. Hawaii 3-2

  1. Vanessa Freire/Tory Paranagua (FSU) def. Emily Maglio/Ka’iwi Schucht (UH) 21-12, 14-21, 15-12
  2. Morgan Martin/Leah Monkhouse (UH) vs. Katie Horton/Hailey Luke (FSU) 21-14, 16-21, 15-11
  3. Carly Kan/Laurel Weaver (UH) vs. Sara Putt/Macy Jerger (FSU) 17-21, 21-19, 15-11
  4. Amy Ozee/Ari Homayun (UH) vs. Brooke Kuhlman/Molly McBain (FSU) 22-20, 21-16
  5. Francesca Goncalves/Madison Fitzpatrick (FSU) def. Hannah Zalopany/Paige Dreeuws (UH)  24-22, 21-23, 15-12

Order of Finish: 4, 1, 2, 3, 5*

Florida State moves on to the championship match

 

UCLA def. USC 3-1

  1. Abril Bustamante/Tina Graudina (USC) vs. Megan McNamara/Nicole McNamara (UCLA); 13-21, 21-18, 17-17 DNF
  2. Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater (USC) def. Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil (UCLA); 19-21, 21-16, 15-10
  3. Zana Muno/Savvy Simo (UCLA) def. Joy Dennis/Cammie Dorn (USC); 21-17, 21-18
  4. Mac May/Elise Zappia (UCLA) def. Haley Hallgren/Alexandra Poletto (USC); 21-18, 15-21, 15-9
  5. Izzy Carey/Megan Muret (UCLA) def. Jenna Belton/Maja Kaiser (USC); 21-18, 15-21, 15-10

Order of finish: 3, 5, 2, 4*

USC is eliminated

 

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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