BATON ROUGE, La. – The 13th-ranked Beach Dawgs took two more cracks at taking down a top-10 team today in Louisiana, but didn’t break through today. Washington opened its first ever visit to LSU wit ha 4-1 win over Spring Hill College, but then UW dropped a 4-1 rematch with No. 4 Florida State, and ended the day with a 5-0 loss to 5th-ranked and host LSU.
The first match saw straight-set wins at the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 spots against Spring Hill, a college located in Mobile, Alabama. Maeve Griffin teamed with Piper Monk-Heidrich for the first time at the No. 2 spot, and the two earned a three-set win over Boyer/Bell, 21-15, 18-21, 15-10.
Three more first set wins, moving on to the second! Check out that score on 5! ??
1??Loreen/Robinson: 21-10, 10-8
2??Monk-Heidrich/Griffin: 21-16, 2-2
3??Bowman/Dahl: 21-15, 3-3
4??DeFalco/Gormally: 14-21, 8-12
5??Sinclair/Yerex: 21-10, 3-3#GrittyByNature pic.twitter.com/YpfnqcqNYH— Washington Beach Volleyball (@UW_BeachVB) March 25, 2023
Kenall Mather returned to the lineup against the Seminoles after sitting out the morning match, and she and Monk-Heidrich earned UW’s only point, getting a 21-19, 21-17 win over Florida State’s Long and Polo. At the No. 1 spot, Natalie Robinson and Chloe Loreen had a rematch with one of the NCAA’s other top pairs in Anderson/Kalkhoff. In their first meeting a month ago, the Husky top pair pulled out a 20-18 third set thriller. This time another nailbiter went FSU’s way with a 15-13 third set win.
Today was the first time this season the Beach Dawgs played three matches in a day, and they were unable to get much going in the day’s third match against the Tigers.
Head Coach Derek Olson gave Jacquelyn Strawn her first dual match start of the season, teaming with Maeve Griffin at the No. 5 position, but the pair fell to LSU’s Bluetreich/Haynes, 21-9, 21-14. At the No. 4 spot, Mary Sinclair and Teagan DeFalco took the second set against Larkin/Boos, but ultimately dropped a 21-19, 18-21, 15-8 decision. Paloma Bowman and Scarlett Dahl had a tight 23-21 first set loss against Brister/Allred at No. 3, then fell 21-15 in the second set.
Washington will look to bounce back tomorrow with two more matches against New Orleans (7 a.m. Pacific) and Southern Mississippi (11 a.m. Pacific) to finish their stay in Louisiana.
Washington Beach Volleyball
March 25, 2023
Baton Rouge, La.
Match 1
#13 Washington – 4
Spring Hill College – 1
1….
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