Courtesy: West Coast Conference
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | DAY ONE HIGHLIGHTS | COMPLETE DAY ONE SCORES
ADVANCING TEAMS – DAY ONE RECAPS
LMU | PACIFIC | PEPPERDINE | SAINT MARY’S
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. – Day one of the West Coast Conference Beach Volleyball Championship is in the books, and four teams advanced to Saturday’s semifinal round at Ocean Park Beach in Santa Monica, Calif. Top-seeded No. 2 Pepperdine, second-seeded No. 15 Loyola Marymount, third-seeded No. 20 Saint Mary’s and Pacific all secured final day championship berths.
The Waves extended their WCC Championship winning streak to an unblemished 7-0 and improved to 31-4 in overall sets. Pepperdine is the two-time defending WCC Champion.
On Saturday, match one features the Waves and Gaels at 9:00 a.m. followed by the Lions and Tigers at 10:30 a.m.
DAY ONE CAPSULE RECAPS
No. 1 Pepperdine (1-0)
The Waves (22-3) came out swinging despite a gusty Santa Monica wind, winning the first match of the postseason. Skylar Caputo and Alexis Filippone finished first with an impressive 21-3, 21-8 match win on court four over Emily Baptista and Maycie LaBass. Then Brook Bauer and Madalyn Roh downed Roni Long and Hanne De Schrijver with a 21-9, 21-6 mark on two to put the Waves in a position to clinch. Pepperdine’s No. 5 pair Maddie Dilfer and Nikki Lyons would do the honors as they downed Ashlyn Fleming and Taylor Poncetta with a 21-13, 21-9 to clinch the Waves’ win. Deahna Kraft and Corinne Quiggle then put down Andie Skelton and Skylar Wine with a pair of 21-11 sets on one, and Heidi Dyer and Gigi Hernandez picked up a 21-6, 21-14 victory over Katrin Gotterba and Alex Holt on three.
No. 2 Loyola Marymount (2-1)
LMU (21-13) went 2-1, picking up victories over Santa Clara (5-0) and San Francisco (5-0), but dropping a match to No. 20 Saint Mary’s (3-2). LMU swept its way past the Broncos to open play, with only one court going to three sets, and took a forfeit win on court five. The Lions had defeated Saint Mary’, 3-2, twice earlier this year, but the third-seeded Gaels, ranked #19 according to AVCA, flipped the script on Friday. LMU captured victories on courts two and five, but play was ultimately decided on court three. The Lions rebounded nicely after the loss, earning a 5-0 sweep over San Francisco to advance through the loser’s bracket.
No. 3 Saint Mary’s (2-0)
The Gaels posted the lone upset of the day and collected its second top-20 victory of the season in a 3-2 victory against No. 15 Loyola Marymount. Sarah Chase and Mary Hernandez posted a marathon 21-17, 23-21, 15-11 triumph on court three for the clincher. The Gaels opened the tournament by sweeping Portland.
No. 4 Pacific (2-1)
Pacific wasted little time dispatching San Francisco 4-1, before suffering a sweep at the hands of No. 2 Pepperdine in the noon match. The Tigers bounced back with a convincing 4-1 victory against Portland in an elimination match
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