University of San Francisco Athletics

University of San Francisco Invitational
No. 3 Hawaii vs. No. 6 UCLA – 9 a.m.
USF vs. No. 3 Hawaii – noon | Video: theW.tv/live
USF vs. No. 6 UCLA – 3 p.m. | Video: theW.tv/live

Thursday, March 20
Piper Park Sand Courts | 205 Doherty Drive, Larkspur, Calif. | Google map



SAN FRANCISCO – Hosting its first-ever home sand volleyball event, San Francisco welcomes two powerhouses to the inaugural University of San Francisco Invitational Thursday.

The event will take place at the home court of USF sand volleyball, Piper Park Courts in Larkspur, Calif.

The Dons come in after beating Bay Area foe California 3-2 to open the season Friday. USF volleyball had been winless against the Bears until the 2012 indoor season. The Dons pulled off two wins over the Bears in as many tries, including a 3-2 victory over then-No. 25 Cal that made head coach Gilad Doron as the all-time wins leader in program history.  After a 3-2 victory in the 2013 sand season, USF has earned fourth straight wins against the Bears. 

Now, the Dons face two ranked opponents in back-to-back matches, showcasing some of the NCAA's best talent on the sand.

"I think having a home tournament is great to be starting a tradition, but also just having top teams from other regions come in to play is exciting," co-head sand volleyball coach Doron said. "This tournament and our challenging schedule will help us continue grow our young program that is working hard to build its name and national prominence."

The Dons nabbed wins at the No. 1, 3, and 5 positions in the season-opener. Top tandem of Sara Staengle and Valentina Zaloznik, pairing up for the second straight season, took a straight-set win, as did No. 3 duo of Katarina Pilepic and Courtney Sabahi. It took a decisive third set for Emily Reed and Inbar Vinarsky to finish off their opponents coming from behind to prevail, 16-21, 21-19, 15-13.

Hawaii enters as the No. 3 team in the nation, sporting a 7-2 record on the season, with both defeats coming at the hands of higher ranked teams. The Rainbow Wahine's first loss came against top-ranked Pepperdine at the USAV Collegiate Sand Tournament March 15. Hawaii also fell to No. 2 USC on March 19.

Top tandem Brittany Tiegs and Karissa Cooke finished as runners-up in the Gold Bracket of the Jack in the Box Spring Challenge last weekend, and the two Hawaii teams battled in the finals of the Silver Bracket.  The finals appearance for Tiegs and Cooke was their second of the season, after previously capturing the title at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational.

UCLA holds strong at No. 6 for the second poll in a row, and enters the Invitational standing at 3-1. Their lone loss on the year came against Florida State March 14 as the Bruins were swept by the No. 4 Seminoles. UCLA is led by the top pair of Jessyka Ngauamo and Kamila Tan, and No. 2 team Zoe Nightingale and Madie Smith. Nightingale is one of two Bruins on the roster that reached the AVCA National Championships last season.

"We are obviously facing the toughest schedule the sand program has ever faced," co-head coach Eyal Zimet said. "It's a good schedule and we're looking forward to have a great opportunity here. The USF administration and the Parks and Recreation at Larkspur's Piper Park have been very helpful in helping us get this going, and definitely props for them to allow us the opportunity to host this year.

"Both the Hawaii and UCLA coaches are good friends, and they have very good teams coming here. Hawaii started the season on a roll and they're steamrolling people, and UCLA is obviously UCLA. They're going to be very physical and we're expecting very tough competitions here. We're looking forward to testing ourselves."

Both matches in which USF is involved in are slated to be broadcast live from Piper Park on theW.tv. Hawaii and UCLA will start the day's action at 9 a.m., followed by USF taking on the Rainbow Wahine at noon. The Invitational will conclude as the Dons square off with the Bruins at 3 p.m.