University of San Francisco Athletics

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LARKSPUR, Calif. – Playing against two of the nation's highest ranked competitors, the sand volleyball team nabbed a pair of wins against No. 6 UCLA Thursday at the inaugural University of San Francisco Invitational.

The Dons, playing host for the first time in program history, welcomed No. 3 Hawaii to the sand, along with sixth-ranked UCLA to USF's home court at Piper Park.

"I thought it was overall a great event," co-head coach Gilad Doron assessed. "Hawaii obviously proved why they're one of the better teams and then I thought we had a good shot with UCLA. Inbar and Emily had a very close match, and it was really good to see Malina and Jurja win especially after they had a really tough one at Cal.

"It's the second competition we've had this season, and to have this event at home and have all the people come out, I thought it was a great show. Hopefully, with more competitions and practices we'll keep improving individually and as a team, and that's what we like to see."

In USF's battle with the Bruins, the Dons started the match with a straight-set win by Rebecca Kopilovitch and Anja Segota. The tandem of upperclassmen started the first set down 5-2 before racing back to knot the match at 7-all. Holding the slim advantage for the remainder, the Dons' No. 4 duo took the first set from Skylar Dykstra and Jennie Frager, 20-15.

In the second, Kopilovitch and Segota again played in front, jumping out to a four-point advantage midway through the match. After the mandatory timeout with USF up 11-10 in the frame, the pair rolled off the next three points to lead 14-10, and later 16-12. Kopilovitch closed the match with a kill on the final point as USF took the second set by a score of 21-16.

"It was a good challenge; the games were really fun, and there's less pressure when you play as the underdog," Kopilovitch said after the win. "Anja and I don't get to practice so much together because of classes and things like that, but when we do get to play I think we really enjoy playing with each other. We're doing our best to help each other regardless of who we're playing against, and I think each game we've been getting better, so I look forward to what's going to be next."

USF's other point of the day came on the final court in action, as the No. 2 tandem of Malina Terrell and Jurja Vlasic notched their first win of the season. The Dons jumped out to the early 5-2 advantage as Terrell, a senior from Richmond, Calif., put the ball away. UCLA's duo of Zoe Nightingale and Madie Smith battled back to take the lead at 7-6 after Smith's back-court kill.

After the score was knotted at 8-all, the Dons went on a 9-3 run capped by a Vlasic ace as the USF duo enjoyed a 17-11 lead. Nightengale's kill edged the Bruins to within three as the score was 18-15 in favor of USF, but the Dons got the last three points of the set as Terrell's statement kill to the middle of the court closed the first frame by a score of 21-15.

In the second, Vlasic started the scoring, but UCLA countered to edge out to a 2-1 lead. The Dons again regained the advantage and a UCLA service error put the score at 6-3 in favor of the home team. Smith's first-hit attack for the point pulled the Bruins within two, and the margin stayed at a pair after Nightingale blocked an attempt from Vlasic to make it 9-7. A powerful swing from Vlasic increased the lead to 11-7.

An extended rally capped by a kill from Terrell grew USF's advantage to 15-11. A well-placed ball by Vlasic found the back corner and the Dons led 17-14. On the ensuing point, an ace off the serve of Terrell, UCLA was forced to call a timeout. After the pause in the action, Terrell's attack was blocked by Nightingale back to the Dons' side of the court, but Terrell's second attempt hit paydirt and gave the Dons the 19-14 lead. Vlasic set up her partner for the final point, as Terrell closed the second set with a 21-16 USF win.

"It was fun playing against teams that are ranked, and I think we competed well," Terrell said. "This last match for Jurja and I, it was a lot of fun. Clearly, when we're both relaxed, you can have much more fun that way and you can have a clearer mind on what you want to do in a game.

"It was tough starting the season off with two losses, and we kind of got a chance to redeem ourselves. There's a lot more season to play, but getting that first win makes us feel like this is where we belong as the second-seeded team, and we can compete with top teams and get a win."

Playing from the fifth position, USF's Emily Reed and Inbar Vinarsky dueled with Karly Drolson and Rachel Inouye to open the contest against the Bruins. The first set was played to extra points, with the Dons' pairing escaping with the 28-26 victory. The second set belonged to UCLA was Dolson and Inouye dominated for a 21-9 win to force a third frame.

With Reed at the serve, Vinarsky started the decisive set with a block to put the Dons on the board first. Drolson's kill knotted the score at 3-3 and started a string of three straight points for the Bruins. After an attack error evened the score at five apiece, Reed's cross-court kill was followed by a hit from Vinarsky to give USF a 7-5 advantage. UCLA then scored the next three points to overtake the lead before the Bruins closed it out with a 15-10 win in the third.

Hawaii proved to be the dominant team on the sand, led by the top pair of Karissa Cook and Brittany Tiegs. Hawaii leaves San Francisco with a clean sheet after sweeping the Dons in the afternoon match following a 5-0 win over UCLA to open the day's action.

In all ten matches in which the Rainbow Wahine competed, only two made it to a third set. UCLA's No. 3 team of Taylor Formico and Karsta Lowe forced a third set before dropping the decisive set, 15-10. In the No. 5 spot, Drolson and Inouye also extended the pairs match for the Bruins before falling 15-10 in the final frame.

After the full day of competition, USF's season record stands at 1-2, while No. 6 UCLA moves to 4-2 and No. 3 Hawaii improves to 9-2 on the year.

Next, the Dons host their only other home match of the season. USF will face off with No. 10 Saint Mary's at Piper Park on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

"It's kind of interesting, because Saint Mary's is pretty much the same team as last year, and we're very similar," Doron noted. "But I think we're better than we were last year. Saint Mary's is very experienced, and they're very good, but I think it's an opportunity for some of our teams to prove that from last year to this year, they have improved." 

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No. 3 Hawaii 5, No. 6 UCLA 0
March 27 | Piper Park | Larkspur, Calif.
 
No. 1 – Karissa Cook/Brittany Tiegs (UH) def. Jessyka Ngauamo/Kamila Tan (UCLA); 21-15, 21-9
No. 2 – Katie Spieler/Nikki Taylor (UH) def. Zoe Nightingale/Madie Smith (UCLA); 21-13, 21-13
No. 3 – Alyssa Longo/Ginger Longo (UH) def. Taylor Formico/Karsta Lowe (UCLA); 21-11, 23-25, 15-10
No. 4 – Karlee Riggs/Hannah Rooks (UH) def. Skyler Dykstra/Jennie Frager (UCLA); 21-16, 21-15
No. 5 – London Chow/Tayler Higgins (UH) def. Rachel Inouye/ Karly Prolson (UCLA); 21-19, 16-21, 15-10

No. 3 Hawaii 5, San Francisco 0
No. 1 – Karissa Cook/Brittany Tiegs (UH) def. Sara Staengle/Valentina Zaloznik (USF); 21-13, 21-14
No. 2 – Katie Spieler/Nikki Taylor (UH) def. Malina Terrell/Jurja Vlasic (USF); 21-12, 21-9
No. 3 – Alyssa Longo/Ginger Longo (UH) def. Katarina Pilepic/Courtney Sabahi (USF); 21-14, 21-8
No. 4 – Karlee Riggs/Hannah Rooks (UH) def. Rebecca Kopilovitch/Anja Segota (USF); 21-18, 21-14
No. 5 – Sarah Mendoza/Emily Urban (UH) def. Emily Reed/Inbar Vinarsky (USF); 21-8, 21-15
 
No. 6 UCLA 3, San Francisco 2
No. 1 – Jessyka Ngauamo/Kamila Tan (UCLA) def. Sara Staengle/Valentina Zaloznik (USF); 23-21, 21-11
No. 2 – Malina Terrell/Jurja Vlasic (USF) def. Zoe Nightingale/Madie Smith (UCLA); 21-15, 21-16
No. 3 – Karsta Lowe/Taylor Formico (UCLA) def. Katarina Pilepic/Courtney Sabahi (USF); 21-12, 27-25
No. 4 – Rebecca Kopilovitch/Anja Segota (USF) def. Skylar Dykstra/Jenni Frager (UCLA); 21-15, 21-16
No. 5 – Karly Drolson/Rachel Inouye (UCLA) def. Emily Reed/Inbar Vinarsky (USF); 26-28, 21-9, 15-10