The second week of the second season of full-blown NCAA beach volleyball saw a substantive geographic shift to the western United States, where the sport lives and thrives in its greatest numbers.
At the southern California East Meets West showdown, West finished the weekend with a 13-3 record, thanks in large parts to dual defeats of lasts year’s national runners-up from Florida State.
The day started for the Seminoles with a 3-2 loss to #3 Pepperdine. That was followed by a 3-2 revenge-defeat at the hands of #4 UCLA, who were knocked out of the NCAA tournament last year by Florida State in the semi-finals.
“Our team played tough today and we lost some close matches to some good teams,” Florida State head coach Brooke Niles said of the team’s first two losses of the season. “There are a lot of things that we need to work, especially on our side of the net.”
As bad of a day as it was for the Seminoles, Pepperdine had an equally-good day. Besides beating the #2 team in the country Florida State, they also bested #7 Georgia State. The Waves are now 4-0 this season, with all 4 wins coming against top-7 ranked opponents.
In the first game, against Florida State, Pepperdine lost at the #3 and #5 lines. When they played Georgia State, they left Skylar Caputa/Heidi Dyer in at 3 (they lost again), but swapped in sophomore Kaity Bailey and senior Sarah Seiber to the 5 spot for their first action of the season. The two responded and picked up a straight-set (21-11, 21-18) win over Georgia State’s Amie Held and Allie Elson in the second game.
Elsewhere, Arizona finished the Arizona St. tournament undefeated – which included avenging their loss from the opening weekend against arch rivals the Sun Devils.
Arizona State still won both the 1 and 2 lines in the rematch, but a shakeup at the 5 line was the difference maker for the Wilcats. They teamed up Brooke Burling with Halli Amaro, and got a 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) sweep over Sydney Palmer/Bethany Wedepohl, as compared to a 2-0 loss the week before with Natalie Anselmo and Tyler Spriggs on the anchor line.
Full Results From Sunday, March 12th
Winning Team | Losing Team | Score | Winning Team Recap | Losing Team Recap |
#4 UCLA | #2 Florida State | 3-2 | Link | Link |
#3 Pepperdine | #2 Florida St. | 3-2 | Link | Link |
#3 Pepperdine | #7 Georgia State | 4-1 | Link | Link |
#4 UCLA | #7 Georgia State | 5-0 | Link | Link |
#6 LBSU | #10 LSU | 3-2 | Link | Link |
#8 Arizona | New Mexico | 4-1 | Link | Link |
#8 Arizona | Texas A&M Kingsville | 5-0 | Link | Link |
#10 LSU | Cal Poly | 5-0 | Link | Link |
#11 Grand Canyon | UAB | 4-1 | Link | Link |
#11 Grand Canyon | Mercer | 4-1 | Link | Link |
Cal Poly | #12 FIU | 4-1 | Link | Link |
LBSU | #12 FIU | 3-2 | Link | Link |
#12 Arizona State | New Mexico | 3-2 | Link | Link |
#12 Arizona State | Texas A&M Kingsville | 5-0 | Link | Link |
#15 South Carolina | Jacksonville | 5-0 | Link | Link |
#15 South Carolina | UAB | Snowout | Link | Link |
Florida Atlantic | Houston Baptist | 4-1 | Link | Link |
Spring Hill | ULM | 3-2 | Link | Link |
Boise State | Sacremento St. | 5-0 | Link | Link |
Tulane | Houston Baptist | 5-0 | Link | Link |
Tulane | Jacksonville St. | 5-0 | Link | Link |
Tulane | Spring Hill | 5-0 | Link | Link |
Pacific | Utah | 3-2 | Link | Link |
Pacific | San Francisco | 5-0 | Link | Link |
Utah | San Francisco | 5-0 | Link | Link |
Mercer | Jacksonville | 5-0 | Link | Link |
Florida Atlantic | Jacksonville St. | 5-0 | Link | Link |
Spring Hill | New Orleans | 3-2 | Link | Link |
New Orleans | Austin Peay | 5-0 | Link | Link |
Austin Peay | Huntingdon | 5-0 | Link | Link |
ULM | Eckerd | 4-1 | Link | Link |
Eckerd | Huntingdon | 5-0 | Link | Link |
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