TUCSON, Ariz. – The Oregon beach volleyball team opened the 2022 Pac-12 Championship with a 3-1 win Wednesday morning over Utah. Alex Laita and Bea Wetton clinched the match at No. 2 pairs and sent the Ducks to the next round where the team will face top-seeded USC at 2 p.m.
Oregon improves to 14-16 this season with the win over the Utes and extends the program’s single-season record for wins. The 2022 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championship is airing live on the Pac-12 Network.
Oregon and Utah have meet in the opening round of five-consecutive conference tournaments. The Ducks have won the last three of those meetings, and UO avenges an earlier season setback to Utah during the Pac-12 South Invitational (March 27), also in Tucson.
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*
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