Bruins Wrap Up Pairs Tournament at Aloha Invitational

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HONOLULU - All seven Bruin tandems were in action today at Queen's Beach in the Pairs Tournament of the Aloha Invitational. The Bruins got off to a hot start, but none advanced past the semifinals.

The Gold Bracket included the top four flights from Long Beach State, Saint Mary's and UCLA.

UCLA's No. 1 pair of Kamila Tan and Zoë Nightingale received a bye in the first round of the gold bracket and opened the quarterfinals with a straight set win over Long Beach State's No. 3 pair of Bre Mackie and Jenelle Hudson, 21-14, 21-19 (LBSU3 moved to silver bracket). But the No. 1 Saint Mary's duo of Dalas Dodd and Alexis Salmons defeated Tan/Nightingale in the semifinals, 21-19, 21-13 (UCLA1 eliminated).

The Bruins' No. 2 pair of Madie Smith and Elise Zappia opened with a first round win in the gold bracket over the No. 4 Saint Mary's pair of Hannah Lisera and Maegan Conroy, 21-11, 21-8 (SMC4 moved to silver bracket). But LBSU's No. 1 pair of Delainey Aigner-Swesey and Chelsea Cabrajac defeated Smith/Zappia, 21-15, 21-19 (UCLA2 moved to silver bracket). In the silver bracket, the Bruin duo had to forfeit due to injury to No. 6 LBSU duo of Lindsey Lawmaster and Morea Wagner (UCLA 2 moved to bronze bracket). There, the Bruin pair again had to forfeit to the SMC No. 4 pair they had already defeated earlier in the day (Lisera/Conroy) and were eliminated from the tournament.

UCLA's No. 3 pair of Julie Consani and Laurel Weaver opened with a three-set win in the gold bracket over LBSU's No. 4 duo of Andrea McHugh and Ciana Wagner, 18-21, 21-19, 15-10 (LBSU4 moved to silver bracket). The No. 1 Saint Mary's tandem of Dodd/Salmons then defeated Weaver/Consani in three sets, 21-17, 18-21, 15-7 (UCLA3 moved to silver bracket). There, the No. 5 pair from LBSU (Rachel Nieto/Sammee Thomas) defeated Weaver/Consani), 25-23 (UCLA3 moved to bronze bracket). There, the Bruin duo defeated the No. 2 pair from Saint Mary's (Mary Hernandez/Clare Powers), 25-18 in the quarterfinals (SMC2 eliminated). In the semifinals of the bronze bracket, the LBSU4 pair of McHugh/Wagner) defeated Weaver/Consani, 25-21 (UCLA3 eliminated).

UCLA's No. 4 pair of Karly Drolson and Rachel Inouye opened with one of the largest upsets of the tournament in the gold bracket, defeating SMC's No. 2 pair (Hernandez/Powers) in three sets, 21-19, 19-21, 15-12 (SMC2 moved to silver bracket). "America's Team" then topped that upset with an even bigger one, dropping the LBSU No. 2 pair of Tyler Jackson and Aneta Brinke in three sets, 21-19, 12-21, 15-13 (LBSU2 moved to silver bracket). The top 49er team of Aigner-Swesey/Cabrajac defeated Droisan/Inouye in the semifinals of the gold bracket, 21-16, 21-11 (UCLA4 eliminated).

The Silver Bracket started with play-in games involving a pair of UCLA teams. The Bruins' No. 7 pair of Natalie Miller and Kristen Phillipp were eliminated with a 25-6 defeat to the LBSU No. 6 duo of Lindsey Lawmaster and Morea Wagner. The Bruins' No. 6 pair of Kendahl Hettick and Anastasia Kunz opened with a 25-5 win over SMC's No. 6 duo of Jordan Patchell and Samantha Tinsley (SMC6 eliminated). But in the second play-in round, Hettick/Kunz lost to the 49ers' Lawmaster/Wagner, 25-15, and were eliminated.

The Bruins' No. 5 pair of Lexi Jasper-Baylin and Ivey Schmitt opened first round silver bracket play with a 25-12 setback to the No. 3 Saint Mary's pair of Madi Wilkerson and Mileva Popovic (UCLA5 moved to bronze bracket). In the bronze bracket, Schmitt/Jasper-Baylin were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the 49ers' No. 4 pair of McHugh/Wagner, 25-12.

The Bruins return to action tomorrow with the team portion of the Aloha Invitational as Hawai'i joins LBSU, SMC and UCLA in the four-team field.