Women’s Beach Volleyball | April 28, 2023
STANFORD, Calif. – The second-seeded and No. 3-ranked USC beach volleyball team (28-5) fell, 3-0, to top-seeded No. 1-ranked UCLA (35-3) in the contender’s bracket and was eliminated from the 2023 Pac-12 Championship at Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium on Friday, April 28.
The Women of Troy will not play in the Pac-12 championship dual for the first time in the seven-year history of the tournament as USC falls to 24-7 in duals at the Pac-12 tourney. USC also goes to 18-4 in matches played in Stanford and falls to 22-17 all-time against UCLA.
The Bruins went up, 2-0, with wins at the Nos. 4 and 2 positions in the first flight of matches. At four, Marlie Monserez and Jessie Smith claimed a 21-18, 21-7 win over the Trojans’ pair of graduate Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope and freshman Bailey Showalter. At the No. 2 spot, Peri Brennan and Abby Van Winkle defeated USC’s duo of graduate Madison Shields and freshman Madison White in straight sets, 21-15, 21-9.
Each of the last three matches went to three sets, but UCLA collected the clinching point from the No. 5 position where Devon Newberry and Jaden Whitmarsh edged the Trojans’ pair of junior Olivia Bakos and freshman Gabby Walker, 21-11, 19-21, 15-12.
With the dual decided, play at the top court and No. 3 position was stopped. At the first position, the Trojans’ junior tandem of Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple split sets and led Lexy Denaberg and Kelli Green-Agnew, 21-16, 27-29, 11-8, in the third. At the three spot, USC senior twins Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse dropped their first to Haley Hallgren and Rileigh Powers but won the second and trailed in the third set, 13-21, 22-20, 14-12, when play was halted.
USC now seeks selection as an at-large berth into the 2023 NCAA Championship set to be contested at Gulf Shores Beach in Gulf Shores, Ala., next weekend (May 5-7). The NCAA will announce the 17-team field during the selection show on Sunday, April 30. The show will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
For more information on the USC beach volleyball team, a complete schedule, and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/beach. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow the team on Instagram and on Twitter @USCBeach.
[1] No. 1 UCLA def. [2] No. 3 USC, 3-0
2023 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at USC Athletics…