Busy Day in Tucson Ends with Loss to Cal
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Oregon beach volleyball team opened the day with a win over Utah but suffered a pair of afternoon losses to ranked opponents—No. 1 USC and No. 12 Cal—Wednesday at the 2022 Pac-12 Championship at Bear Down Beach.
The Ducks finish their 2022 campaign with a 14-18 record under first-year head coach Jason Dillard who guided the team to a program record for single-season wins (14) and its first-ever ranked win (April 9 at Arizona).
Match 1 | Oregon 3, Utah 1
The Ducks took an early advantage in Wednesday's match against Utah, winning the first set on four of five courts. Madelyn LaFollette and Daley McClellan scored the first point of the day with a 21-16, 21-11 victory on court three. The win was the duo's 10th of the season, giving UO five teams with double-digit wins this year.
Reagan Hope and Brooke Nuneviller followed with a 21-10, 22-20 win at No. 1 pairs to extend the team lead to 2-0. Utah cut its deficit in half with a straight-set win on court four by Sommer Daniel and Lauren Sayre, snapping the six-match winning streak of Ashley Schroeder and Ella Tyus.
After an extended first-set win on court two, Laita and Wetton clinched the point, and ultimately the match, with a 26-24, 21-17 triumph. In the opening frame, the UO pair fought off two sets points and then took the 1-0 lead on their fourth set-point opportunity.
1. Reagan Hope/Brooke Nuneviller (ORE) def. Amaya Messier/Sage Patchell (UTAH) – 21-10, 22-20
2. Alex Laita/Bea Wetton (ORE) def. Grace Andrews/Bella Vezzani (UTAH) – 26-24, 21-17
3. Madelyn LaFollette/Daley McClellan (ORE) def. Marissa Koch/Samantha Leight (UTAH) – 21-16, 21-11
4. Sommer Daniel/Lauren Sayre (UTAH) def. Ashley Schroeder/Ella Tyus (ORE) – 21-18, 21-18
5. Ally Haden/Savannah Siegrist (ORE) vs Sydney Jacinto/Kylie Pitzak (UTAH) – 21-18, 15-21, 4-7 (unf.)
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 4, 2*
Match 2 | #1 USC 3, Oregon 0
Taking on the top-ranked team in the country, the Ducks fell behind early with USC taking the first sets on all five courts. The Trojans jumped out to a 1-0 lead when LaFollette and McClellan dropped a result at No. 3 pairs.
USC completed the sweep with a pair of straight-set wins on courts one and five, respectively. The two results came down within minutes of one another with the Trojans clinching the match via a 21-8, 21-15 win at No. 5 pairs by Mollie Ebertin and Sunny Villapando over Ally Haden and Savannah Siegrist.
The setback set up a match against No. 12 Cal—who lost its opener to host Arizona—to advance to day two of the tournament bracket.
1. Tina Graudina/Hailey Harward (USC) def. Reagan Hope/Brooke Nuneviller (ORE) – 21-16, 21-11
2. Alex Laita/Bea Wetton (ORE) vs Megan Kraft/Sammy Slater (USC) – 15-21, 9-17 (unf.)
3. Delaynie Maple/Julia Scoles (USC) def. Madelyn LaFollette/Daley McClellan (ORE) – 21-12, 21-8
4. Ashley Schroeder/Ella Tyus (ORE) vs Audrey Nourse/Nicole Nourse (USC) – 13-21, 17-20 (unf.)
5. Mollie Ebertin/Sunny Villapando (USC) def. Ally Haden/Savannah Siegrist (ORE) – 21-8, 21-15
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 5*
Match 3 | #12 Cal 3, Oregon 0
Playing their third match of the day, the Ducks dropped the opening set in four of five matches with Hope and Nuneviller bucking the trend with a first-set win at No. 1 pairs.
The 12th-ranked Bears scored the first point of the match with a 21-13, 21-17 win on court two over the UO pair of Laita and Wetton, the duo that clinched the morning win over Utah. Cal extended the lead to 2-0 with a straight-set win at No. 4 pairs before Natalie Martin and Alex Young-Gomez beat Haden and Siegrist on court five to seal the duel win.
Hope and Nuneviller had taken the first set against Ana Costa and Maya Gessner, 21-19, and were tied at 17-all in the second when the match was decided. On court three, LaFollette and McClellan shook off a first-set loss with a 21-18 triumph in the second against Ella Dreibholz and Lexi McKeown; the match went unfinished.
1. Reagan Hope/Brooke Nuneviller (ORE) vs Ana Costa/Maya Gessner (CAL) – 21-19, 17-17 (unf.)
2. Ashley Delgado/Ainsley Radell (CAL) def. Alex Laita/Bea Wetton (ORE) – 21-13, 21-17
3. Madelyn LaFollette/Daley McClellan (ORE) vs Ella Dreibholz/Lexi McKeown (CAL) – 12-21, 21-18 (unf.)
4. Brooke Buchner/Ava Mann (CAL) def. Ashley Schroeder/Ella Tyus (ORE) – 21-16, 21-17
5. Natalie Martin/Alex Young-Gomez (CAL) def. Ally Haden/Savannah Siegrist (ORE) 21-12, 21-12
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 5*
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