Beach Volleyball | 4/1/2017 6:17:00 PM

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The San Francisco Dons played host to Southern Cal, the nation's top team, and Bay Area foe, Saint Mary's, at the San Francisco Invitational Saturday at main beach and the Trojans lived up to their ranking in sweeping fashion.

The Dons opened the day against the No. 1 Trojans and the squad from the Southland proved their mettle, advancing their dual match winning streak to 48 to remain undefeated (18-0) on the year.

Then, USF took on the Gaels, and nearly nabbed a set on Court 3. The Dons' duo of Carly Lowry and Dane Miller stretched the first set into extra points against opponents Alexis Salmons and Mary Hernandez. Lowry and Miller eventually fell 22-20, 21-11, but the middle of the lineup showed strength all day. Lowry and Miller also took USC's Joy Dennis and Allie Wheeler to the brink, dropping the first set to the Trojans, 23-21.

USC and Saint Mary's faced off in a three-bracket pairs tournament to close the day at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Trojans tandems won all three brackets as Hughes and Claes earned top billing in the gold bracket, Wheeler and Dennis took the silver bracket, and Kernocahn and Thomas made it a sweep by taking the win in the bronze bracket.

Up next for the Dons is a trip to the South Bay to take on Stanford on Friday at 2 p.m.
 
No. 1 Southern California 5, USF 0
Saturday, April 1 | Santa Cruz, Calif.
1. Kelly Claes/Sara Hughes (USC) def. Nora Buvarp Lavik/Emily Reed (USF); 21-9, 21-4
2. Terese Cannon/Nicolette Martin (USC) def. Camille Araujo/Marjolijn Oskam (USF); 21-13, 21-5
3. Joy Dennis/Allie Wheeler (USC) def. Carly Lowry/Dane Miller (USF); 23-21, 21-14
4. Jenna Belton/Jo Kremer (USC) def. Kate Ashman/Shannon Levinson (USF); 21-9, 21-13
5. Katrina Kernochan/Lainy Thomas (USC) def. Montana Green/Trish Koutsoukos (USF); 21-12, 21-7
 
Saint Mary's 5, USF 0
Saturday, April 1 | Santa Cruz, Calif.
1. Payton Rund/Lindsey Knudsen (SMC) def. Emily Reed/Nora Buvarp Lavik (USF); 21-14, 21-11
2. Emily Bible/Sarah Chase (SMC) def. Marjolijn Oskam/Camille Araujo (USF); 21-10, 21-10
3.  Alexis Salmons/Mary Hernandez (SMC) def. Dane Miller/Carly Lowry (USF); 22-20, 21-11
4.  Alexsa Parker/Sienna Young (SMC) def. Shannon Levinson/Kate Ashman (USF); 21-7, 21-11
5. Dominique Dodd/Alex O'Sullivan (SMC) def. Montana Green/Trish Koutsoukos (USF); 21-10, 21-10