Florida State, Hawaii Upset #1 UCLA, #2 Pepperdine at NCAA Beach

  0 Wendy Mayer | May 04th, 2018 | Big West, CCSA, College - Beach, News, Pac-12, West Coast Conference

NCAA Beach Championships

It was a day full of surprising results and amazing finishes at the NCAA Beach Championships. The biggest results of the day saw No. 1 UCLA fall 3-1 to No. 4 seed Florida State and 2017 NCAA runner-up Pepperdine suffer a 3-2 defeat at the hands of No. 3 Hawaii.

The Seminoles moved to 3-0 vs. UCLA in NCAA Championships action, having eliminated the Bruins each of the last two years. On Friday afternoon, No. 4 FSU posted the biggest upset by seed in NCAA Beach Championship history, knocking off the top-seeded Bruins 3-1.

Court 5 finished first with Francesca Goncalves/Madison Fitzpatrick putting the Seminoles up 1-0 in the match. Top pair Nicole McNamara/Megan McNamara evened the score with a 21-19, 21-19 win for UCLA. Sara Putt/Macy Jerger and Brooke Kuhlman/Molly McBain followed with wins on Court 3 and 4 for Florida State to clinch the upset.

Just twice in championships history has the seed difference in an upset been more than one. Along with today, the other occurrence came as No. 4 FSU topped No. 2 UCLA in the semifinals of the elimination bracket in 2017.

Hawaii wrapped up the day with a three-set win on Court 5, sealing the upset over Pepperdine. Hannah Zalopany/Paige Dreeuws won 21-19, 18-21, 15-13 shortly after Pepperdine tied the match at 2-2 with a Court 4 win. Emily Maglio/Ka’iwi Schucht grabbed their second win of the day to start things off for the Sandbows. The teams traded blows on courts 2, 3 and 4 to set up the furious finish.

 

After two-time defending national champions USC dropped their first ever NCAA Tournament match (in 9 tries) in the morning session, the Women of Troy rebounded to edge NCAA first timer Florida International 3-2 in the first elimination match of the tournament. After splitting the first four pairings, it all came down to a Court 2 showdown, with Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater surviving to win in tiebreak, 15-12.

In the words of Coach Anna Collier, that was survival.

 

South Carolina was bounced from the competition in the second elimination match, dropping a 3-1 decision to LSU. With the win, the Tigers advance to the second day of NCAAs for the second straight year. First, Kristen Nuss/Claire Coppola won on Court 1, then the Gamecocks responded with a Court 2 win by Shannon Williams/Ali Denney. Riley Young/Maddie Ligon won in straight sets on Court 5 to give LSU the edge. It all came down to a three-set affair on Court 3 where Olivia Powers/Hunter Domanski overcame a 21-17 Set 1 loss to win 21-18, 15-9 and send the Tigers on to Saturday.

 

USC def. FIU 3-2

  1.  Abril Bustamante/Tina Graudina (USC)  vs. Federica Frasca/Margherita Bianchin 21-13, 21-14
  2. Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater (USC) def. Lina Bernier/Erika Zembyla (FIU)  19-21, 21-17, 15-12
  3. Katie Friesen/Anabela Sataric (FIU) def. Joy Dennis/Cammie Dorn (USC) 21-17, 21-13
  4. Taija Thomas/Dorina Klinger (FIU) def. Haley Hallgren/Alexandra Poletto (USC)  21-18, 21-14
  5. Jenna Belton/Maia Kaiser (USC) vs. Estafanie Bethancourt/Natalia Giron (FIU) 21-18, 21-18

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

FIU is eliminated.

 

Florida State def. UCLA 3-1

1. Nicole McNamara/Megan McNamara (UCLA) def. Vanessa Freire/Tory Paranagua (FSU), 21-19, 21-19
2. Katie Horton/Hailey Luke (FSU) vs. Sarah Sponcil/Lily Justine (UCLA), 26-24, DNF
3. Sara Putt/Macy Jerger (FSU) def. Zana Muno/Savvy Simo (UCLA), 21-14, 21-18
4. Brooke Kuhlman/Molly McBain (FSU) def. Elise Zappia/Mac May (UCLA), 21-18, 28-26
5. Francesca Goncalves/Madison Fitzpatrick (FSU) def. Izzy Carey/Megan Muret (UCLA), 21-16, 21-19
Order of finish: 5, 1, 3, 4*

 

LSU def. South Carolina 3-1

  1. Kristen Nuss/Claire Coppola (LSU) def. Cadie Bates/Katie Smith (SC) 21-14, 21-18
  2. Shannon Williams/Ali Denney (SC) def. Haleigh Nelson/Mandi Orellana (LSU) 21-19, 21-18
  3. Olivia Powers/Hunter Domanski (LSU) def. Julia Mannisto/Carly Schnieder (SC) 17-21, 21-18, 15-9
  4. Megan Davenport/Emmy Allen (LSU) vs. Leah Perri/Macie Tendrich (SC) 21-17, 15-21, 13-14, DNF
  5. Riley Young/Maddie Ligon (LSU) def. Lydia Dimke/Franky Harrison (SC) 27-25, 21-15

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

South Carolina is eliminated.

 

Hawaii def. Pepperdine 3-2

  1. Emily Maglio/Ka’iwi Schucht (UH) def. Deahna Kraft/Corinne Quiggle (Pepp) 21-18, 21-16
  2. Maddie Roh/Brook Bauer (Pepp) def. Morgan Martin/Lea Monkhouse (UH) 21-17, 21-16
  3. Carly Kan/Lauren Weaver (UH) def. Gigi Hernandez/Heidi Dyer (Pepp) 21-17, 21-13
  4. Skylar Caputo/Alexis Filippone (Pepp) def. Amy Ozee/Ari Homayun (UH) 21-15, 19-21, 15-12
  5. Hannah Zalopany/Paige Dreeeuws (UH) def. Maddie Dilfer/Nikki Lyons (Pepp) 21-19, 18-21, 15-13

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

 

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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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