PALO ALTO, Calif. – The Arizona beach volleyball team picked up 3-1 win over Arizona State before falling to top-seeded UCLA, 3-0, on Thursday at the Pac-12 Championship. The loss to the Bruins eliminated the Wildcats (21-12) from the conference tournament.
After dropping both matches against the Sun Devils during the regular season, the Wildcats jumped out to an early lead just as they had done in the first two meetings. But this time was different, as Abby Russell and Hope Shannon won their match at No. 2 by a commanding 21-10, 21-14 margin.
After ASU evened the match at 1-1 with a victory at the No. 4 pair, Alex Parkhurst and Sarah Blacker cruised to a 21-13, 21-15 win at the top spot. And the dual was clinched by Alana Rennie and Grace Cook at the No. 3 pair, winning by scores of 21-12 and 21-18.
The win over the Sun Devils gave Arizona the opportunity to play No. 1 seed UCLA, after the Bruins suffered a surprising loss to Stanford earlier in the day.
UCLA proved to be too much for Arizona to handle, handing the Wildcats straight set losses at No. 1, 2, and 4 pairs.
The 21 wins on the season are the third-most in a season in program history and the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Wildcats have reached 20 wins in a season.
#7 seed Arizona 3, #6 seed Arizona State 1
Contenders Bracket – Pac-12 Championship
Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium
1) Alex Parkhurst/Sarah Blacker (ARIZ) def. Lexi Sweeney/Kylie Wickley, 21-13, 21-15
2) Abby Russell/Hope Shannon (ARIZ) vs. Anya Pemberton/Ivey Weber, 21-10, 21-14
3) Alana Rennie/Grace Cook (ARIZ) def. Carys Thomas/Rylie Kael, 21-12, 21-18
4) Sarah Waters/Taryn Ames def. Kali Uhl/Dilara Gedikoglu (ARIZ), 21-17, 18-21, 17-15
5) Annie Kost/Miranda Erro (ARIZ) vs. Kate Fitzgerald/Adri Nieves Papaleo, 5-16 unfinished
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1
#1 seed UCLA 3, #7 seed Arizona 0
Contenders Bracket – Pac-12 Championship
Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium
1) Kelli Greene-Agnew/Lexy Denaburg (UCLA) def. Alex Parkhurst/Sarah Blacker (ARIZ), 21-10, 21-16
2) Peri Brennan/Abby Van Winkle (UCLA) def. Abby Russell/Hope Shannon (ARIZ), 21-13,…
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