Long Beach State University
Pepperdine
Long Beach State Drops A Pair At USAV Collegiate Challenge
4/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Beach Volleyball
Hermosa Beach, Calif. - No. 6 Long Beach State faced a pair of tough opponents and came up short against No. 1 Pepperdine and No. 4 UCLA at the USAV Collegiate Challenge.
Falling 5-0 in both matches, Saturday marked the first losses for Long Beach State (9-8) since March 22, snapping a seven match winning streak for the Beach.
Long Beach State opened the day with a loss to Pepperdine (15-2). Newly moved to the top flight, Nele Barber and Rachel Nieto had the closest match of the day against the Waves, winning their first set against Dyer and Racich 21-14 before falling in the next two sets, losing 14-21, 21-19, 15-17 in the end.
Against UCLA (14-4), Long Beach State again had a close match at No. 1, while Kobi Pekich and Sammee Thomas fell in a tight second set 21-14, 23-21 against Carey/Zappia of the Bruins.
The Beach finished the day starting pairs competition in all three brackets. Three pairs earned byes into the quarterfinals, while three teams earned their way in on Saturday. Playing Concordia in all three brackets, Jenelle Hudson and Zoi Konstantopoulou started off the action with a 21-13, 21-18 win to advance in the Gold Bracket, while Megan Kruidhof and Morea Wagner advanced in a dominant 21-7, 21-9 win in the Bronze bracket.
Ciana Wagner and Mykah Wilson also advanced in three sets, holding off Deters/Ladensack of CUI 21-11, 13-21, 15-7, ensuring that all six pairs will be participating in Sunday's single-elimination tournament.
The pairs competition finishes with action all day Sunday in Hermosa Beach.
#1 Pepperdine 5, Long Beach State 0
1) Dyer/Racich, PEP def. Barber/Nieto, LBSU 14-21, 21-19, 15-7
2) Bailey/Knudsen, PEP def. Hudson/Konstantopoulou, LBSU 21-16, 21-14
3) Caputo/Quiggle, PEP def. Pekich/Thomas, LBSU 21-18, 21-17
4) Roh/Wilson, PEP def. Kruidhof/Wagner, LBSU 21-10, 21-17
5) Cash/Seiber, PEP def. Garner/Grahovac, LBSU 23-21, 21-17
#4 UCLA 5, Long Beach State 0
1) McNamara/McNamara, UCLA def. Barber/Nieto, LBSU 21-14, 21-18
2) Tan/Schmitt, UCLA def. Hudson/Konstantopoulou, LBSU 21-16, 21-13
3) Carey/Zappia, UCLA def. Pekich/Thomas, LBSU 21-14, 23-21
4) Muno/Buechler, UCLA def. Wagner/Wilson, LBSU 21-11, 21-17
5) Consani/Weaver, UCLA def. Garner/Grahovac, LBSU 21-15, 21-12
Pairs Competition
Gold Bracket
Round of 16
Hudson/Konstantopoulou, LBSU def. Ames/Flynn, CUI 21-13, 21-18
Silver Bracket
Round of 16
CWagner/Wilson, LBSU def. Deters/Ladensack, CUI 21-11, 13-21, 15-17
Bronze Bracket
Round of 16
Kruidhof/MWagner, LBSU def. Spear/Strysko CUI 21-7, 21-9
