SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The University of San Francisco women's sand volleyball team earned a pair of wins over Santa Clara and Pacific to extend its winning streak to four on Sunday.
In the day's first match, the Nos. 4 and 5 pairings again set the tone on the sand, earning points for the Dons.
Mackenzie Murtagh and
Inbar Vinarsky raced away with a 21-12, 21-7 victory in the fifth position. Efficient on the sand, Murtagh finished with an attack percentage of 45.4 percent and a team-high five aces against the Broncos. Vinarsky added 11 kills and an attack percentage of 50.0 percent to give the USF pair the highest total attack percentage on the day.
The Dons also earned points at the top two positions against Santa Clara, with No. 2 pair
Rebecca Kopilovitch and
Jurja Vlasic earning its first victory on the season in the 23-21, 21-17 match. Vlasic, a freshman from Zagreb, Croatia, finished with team-highs of 20 digs and 18 kills in the two-set victory. USF's top pair of
Sara Staengle and
Valentina Zaloznik earned the fourth point of the day for the Dons as the team took the 4-1 win in the morning meeting with the Broncos.
After a mid-day break, USF faced off with Pacific in the afternoon and Murtagh and Vinarsky again got the Dons on the board first, winning its fourth-straight point in the fifth position. The Tigers challenged USF at every turn, taking each match to three sets.
Leanna Ludes and
Anja Segota earned a hard-fought victory from the No. 3 slot in the 21-15, 14-21, 15-12 win to nab the duo's first points of the season. Kopilovitch and Vlasic, making it a clean sweep on the day, picked up a decisive third point for the Dons to give USF the 3-2 team victory over Pacific. Kopilovitch, a redshirt sophomore from Israel, notched a team-high 26 kills with a 41.1 attack percentage in the win.
USF has a two-week break to prepare for the next tournament-style competition, as the Dons prepare to face off against Stanford and Sacramento State. The first meeting between the Dons and the Cardinal, this match will mark the last new face USF will face during the regular season. The Dons dispatched the Hornets 3-2 on March 22, earning its first-ever program victory.
USF takes on Stanford and Sacramento State April 21, in Stanford, Calif.
USF vs. Santa Clara:
No. 1 –
Sara Staengle/
Valentina Zaloznik; 21-18, 21-15
No. 2 –
Rebecca Kopilovitch/
Jurja Vlasic; 23-21, 21-17
No. 3 –
Leanna Ludes/
Anja Segota; 18-21, 21-23
No. 4 –
Malina Terrell/
Courtney Sabahi; 21-10, 21-15
No. 5 –
Mackenzie Murtagh/
Inbar Vinarsky; 21-12, 21-7
USF vs. Pacific:
No. 1 –
Sara Staengle/
Valentina Zaloznik; 18-21, 21-13, 11-15
No. 2 –
Rebecca Kopilovitch/
Jurja Vlasic; 24-22, 16-21, 15-9
No. 3 –
Leanna Ludes/
Anja Segota; 21-15, 14-21, 15-12
No. 4 –
Malina Terrell/
Courtney Sabahi; 17-21, 21-19, 11-15
No. 5 –
Mackenzie Murtagh/
Inbar Vinarsky; 21-19, 10-21, 17-15
