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 10^th 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…