Seeds Hold In First Four NCAA Beach Matches, UH’s Hall Earns 100th Win

The top four seeds moved on in the winner’s bracket, dropping just one pairing of the 13 played to completion.

First up, UCLA blanked No. 8 Florida International winning on courts 1, 3 and 4 with twins Nicole McNamara/Megan McNamara leading the way.

"We're hungry, we're here to win, and we're the team to watch this weekend!"

UCLA Nicole McNamara#NCAABeachVB pic.twitter.com/RqVOfgwzcJ

— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) May 4, 2018

Next, CCSA champion and No. 4 Florida State issued No. 5 seed and two-time defending national champion USC its first loss in NCAA Tournament history. (Note: The Women of Troy won four straight matches en route to the titles in 2016 and 2017.)  The teams were tied at a point apiece after the Seminoles took Court 5 with Madison Fitzpatrick/Francesca Goncalves winning in straight sets and USC’s Abril Bustamante/Tina Graudina answered on Court 1. Macy Jerger/Sara Putt won on Court 3 to set up the decisive dual, a three-set affair on Court 2 won by FSU’s Katie Horton/Hailey Luke (21-13, 16-21, 15-8).

3️⃣-1️⃣ FSU

NOLES WIN! No. 4 FSU takes down No. 5 USC to advance in the main bracket#GoNoles | #ALLIN ?? pic.twitter.com/izBGxgQdEx

— FSU Beach Volleyball (@FSU_BeachVB) May 4, 2018

No. 2 Pepperdine and No. 3 Hawaii followed with 3-0 wins over LSU and South Carolina respectively. The Waves won on courts 4, 2 and 3 in straight sets to sew up the win with Skylar Caputo/Alexis Filippone, Brooke Bauer/Maddie Roh and Heidi Dyer/Gigi Hernandez supplying the points.

.@MaddyCapriotti and Bauer give the Deets about the big #WavesWin and how they’ll use the momentum for the next match! #WavesUp pic.twitter.com/YLUhvyxRjz

— Pepperdine Beach VB (@WavesBeachVB) May 4, 2018

The Sandbows won on Court 3, 4 and 5 and were a point from finishing off a Court 1 win when the match was clinched. Carly Kan/Lauren Weaver started things off on Court 3. Amy Ozee/Ari Homiyan and Hannah Zalopany/Paige Dreeuws followed suit. The victory marked the 100th for head coach Jeff Hall, while the win for Homayun/Ozee marked the pair’s 25-straight dual win, tying the record set by teammates Emily Maglio/Ka’iwi Schucht.

That feeling when you win your NCAA opener. #HawaiiBVB #NCAABeachVB #GoBows ? pic.twitter.com/5MnrSQVYfc

— Hawaii Beach Volleyball (@UHBeachVolley) May 4, 2018

FIU faces USC in the first elimination matchup, followed by South Carolina vs. LSU. Later in the day, UCLA will face Florida State and Hawaii will take on Pepperdine.

All NCAA Championship matches are airing on the ESPN family of networks, with individual court action airing on ESPN3.com.

NCAA beach bracket after the Friday morning session

No. 1 seed UCLA def. No. 8 Florida International 3-0

1. Nicole McNamara/Megan McNamara (UCLA) def. Federica Frasca/M. Bianchin 21-10, 21-17
2. Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) vs. L Bernier/E Zembyla (FIU) 19-21, 17-11, DNF
3. Savvy Simo/Zana Muno (UCLA) vs. Friesen/Sataric (FIU) 21-16, 21-14
4. Elise Zappia/Mac May (UCLA) def. Thomas/Klinger (FIU) 21-15, 21-14
5. Izzy Carey/Megan Muret (UCLA) vs. Bethancourt/Giron (FIU) 18-21, 21-10, DNF

No. 4 Florida State def. No. 5 USC 3-1

1. Abril Bustamante/Tina Graudina (USC) def. Vanessa Freire/Victoria Paranagua (FSU) 21-14, 21-12
2. Katie Horton/Hailey Luke (FSU) def. Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater (USC); 21-13 16-21, 15-8
3. Macy Jerger/Sara Putt (FSU) def. Joy Dennis/Cammie Dorn (USC) 21-16, 22-20
4. Haley Hallgren/Alexandra Poletto (USC) vs. Brooke Kuhlman/Molly McBain (FSU) 23-21, 16-21 DNF
5. Madison Fitzpatrick/Francesca Goncalves (FSU) def. Jenna Belton/Maja Kaiser (USC) 21-13, 21-15
Order of finish: 5, 1, 3, 2*

No. 2 Pepperdine def. No. 7 LSU 3-0

1. Deahna Kraft/Corinne Quiggle (Pepperdine) vs. Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (LSU) 21-18, 18-21, DNF
2. Brook Bauer/Maddy Roh (Pepperdine) def. Haleigh Nelson/Mandi Orellana (LSU) 21-12, 21-16
3. Heidi Dyer/Gigi Hernandez (Pepperdine) def. Olivia Powers/Hunter Domanski (LSU) 25-23, 24-22
4. Skylar Caputo/Alexis Filippone (Pepperdine) def. Emmy Allen/Megan Davenport (LSU) 21-15, 21-13
5. Maddie Dilfer/Nikki Lyons (Pepperdine) vs. Riley Young/Maddie Ligon (LSU) 21-19, 21-23, DNF
6. Order of finish: 4, 2, 3*

No. 3 Hawaii def. No. 6 South Carolina 3-0

1. Emily Maglio/Ka’iwi Schucht (UH) vs. Cadie Bates/Katie Smith (SC) 21-11, 22-21 DNF
2. Morgan Martin/Lea Monkhouse (UH) vs. Ali Denney/Shannon Williams (SC) 21-12, 16-21, DNF
3. Carly Kan/Laurel Weaver (UH) vs. Julia Mannisto/Carly Schnieder (SC) 21-13, 21-13
4. Amy Ozee/Ari Homiyan (UH) def. Leah Perri/Macie Tendrich (SC) 21-19, 21-13
5. Hannah Zalopany/Paige Dreeuws (UH) vs. Lydia Dimke/Franky Harrison (SC) 21-19, 21-17