SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Utah Beach Volleyball team picked up a 3-2 win over Santa Clara on Wednesday, while it dropped the night capper against Cal Poly 4-1. Utah will play its final two matches of the week long road trip this Friday, marking 10 matches in eight days.
Utah 3, Santa Clara 2
Utah found itself in a battle in San Luis Obispo, taking on Santa Clara to open the day. The Utes fell behind in the dual after Santa Clara’s No. 4 pair took a win, but Abby Karich and Bella Vezzani countered the point and tied the dual 1-1 after winning on court three. Karich and Vezzani won their match 21-17, 21-14.
Utah’s top duo of Amaya Messier and Katie McAlister gave Utah the next point after pulling out the 22-20, 21-13 win on court one. Leading 2-1, the Utes clinched the match from a win on court five where Savannah Cottam and Sonja Wessel battled for the competitive 21-19, 21-19 victory. With the match already decided, the final court went to a third set after Grace Andrews and Marissa Koch won the second set 24-22, but the momentum stopped there for the Ute pair as they fell in three sets.
Utah 1, Cal Poly 4
The Utes closed out the night’s action against Cal Poly and saw the Mustangs take an early 1-0 lead after picking up a straight-set win on court two. Despite McAlister and Messier tying the second set at 15-15, Cal Poly went on to pick up its next point on court one after the Mustang’s top pair closed out the set on a 6-1 run. Meanwhile, courts three, four and five were all sent to third sets in the competitive dual match.
Kylie Pitzak and Sydney Jacinto took a 21-13 win in the second set and Karich and Vezzani won 21-17 to force the third, while Wessel and Cottam took their first set but were looking to bounce back in the third. Utah got on the board after Pitzak and Jacinto narrowly edged Cal Poly’s No. 4 duo in the third set, 16-14, but the Mustangs were in control of the third set on court five as they led 11-6 late. Cottam and Wessel ultimately fell 15-8 to see Cal Poly clinch the match. Vezzani and Karich fell behind in the third set early on and could not make up ground as they eventually fell 15-9.
Utah closes out the week in California with a pair of matches this Friday, March 10, in Moraga, Calif. The Utes play against Saint Mary’s at 10 a.m. MT, and will close out the day against…
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