University of San Francisco Athletics

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The No. 4 seeded University of San Francisco beach volleyball team advanced to Saturday's championship day of the 2019 West Coast Conference Beach Volleyball Championship Tournament with two victories over Santa Clara and Pacific on the opening day of competition at Ocean Park Beach.
 
San Francisco (12-12) beat South Bay rival and fifth-seeded Santa Clara (2-15), 3-2, to start the day with key wins at the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 pairs spots. That lined the Dons up to face defending WCC champion, top seeded and national No. 5-ranked Pepperdine, where they would suffer a 5-0 sweep. But USF was able to book itself a trip to day two of the tournament on Saturday with a convincing 4-1 win over Pacific (1-15) in the day's final match.
 
"It was a great team effort to make it to the second day of WCC Championships and 'hold' our fourth seed," said San Francisco head coach Frank Lavrisha. "It was a composed and gritty win over Santa Clara to get to play Pepperdine.
 
"Lowry and Dalla Vecchia have found their mojo again, winning two matches and taking Pepperdine 1s to three sets. Araujo and Rogers were solid. We look forward to playing Saint Mary's Saturday morning to keep our hopes alive."
 
The Dons' No. 1 pair of Anna Dalla Vecchia and Carly Lowry led the day for USF, going 2-1 and pushing the top pair from Pepperdine to three sets. Dalla Vecchia and Lowry swept Anna McCreadie and Gretchen Reinert of Santa Clara, 21-8, 21-6, to help USF win its opening match of the day against the No. 5-seeded Broncos, 3-2.
 
Dalla Vecchia and Lowry took set No. 2, 21-18, versus Pepperdine's top pair of Brook Bauer and Heidi Dyer to force a third set. Bauer and Dyer would clinch the match with a 15-9 win in the third. In the final match of the day, the Dons' duo earned another sweep, this time over Alex Holt and Jadyn Tubbs of Pacific, 21-17 and 21-15.
 
Camille Araujo and Victoria Rogers also went 2-1 on the day for San Francisco at No. 4 pairs with two sweeps. They took down Santa Clara's Liliana Light and Natalia Rentsch, 21-19, 21-17, in the opening match of the day. They also beat Pacific's Lauren Cline and Hanne De Schrijver, 21-16 and 21-9, to end the day.
 
San Francisco faces No. 18/19 Saint Mary's in an elimination match at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. The match will be live streamed on TheW.tv. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.
 
No. 4 San Francisco 3, No. 5 Santa Clara 2
Ocean Park Beach – Santa Monica, Calif.
April 19, 2019
 
1. Anna Dalla Vecchia/Carly Lowry (USF) def. Anna McCreadie/Gretchen Reinert (SCU), 21-8, 21-6
2. Kathryn Decker/Michelle Gajdka (SCU) def. Madelyn LaFollette/Emily Zinger (USF), 21-15,  21-16
3. Moana To'oto'o/Ella Reames (USF) def. Alex Anthony/Chloe Loreen (SCU), 26-24, 18-21, 15-11
4. Camille Araujo/Victoria Rogers (USF) def. Liliana Light/Natalia Rentsch (SCU), 21-19, 21-17
5. Alexa Dreyer/Brittany Gillingham (SCU) def. Lena Bondar/Tanner Pemberton (USF), 21-16, 17-21, 15-13
 
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 4, 3, 5
 
#5/5 (No. 1) Pepperdine 5, No. 4 San Francisco 0
Ocean Park Beach – Santa Monica, Calif.
April 19, 2019
 
1. Brook Bauer/Heidi Dyer (PEP) def. Dalla Vecchia/Lowry, 21-10, 18-21, 15-9
2. Gigi Hernandez/Deahna Kraft (PEP) def. LaFollette/Zinger, 21-10, 21-11
3. Skylar Caputo/Alexis Filippone (PEP) def. Reames/To'oto'o (USF), 21-10, 21-16
4. Maddie Dilfer/Nikki Lyons (PEP) def. Araujo/Rogers (USF), 21-13, 21-14
5. Katie Gavin/Simone Priebe (PEP) def. Bondar/Pemberton (USF), 21-7, 21-9
 
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 4, 3, 1
 
No. 4 San Francisco 4, No. 7 Pacific 1
Ocean Park Beach – Santa Monica, Calif.
April 19, 2019
 
1. Dalla Vecchia/Lowry (USF) def. Alex Holt/Jadyn Tubbs (PAC), 21-17, 21-15
2. LaFollette/Zinger (USF) def. Lucy Carpenter/Lena Saucedo (PAC), 21-14, 21-11
3. Allison Dennemann/Riley Patterson (PAC) def. Reames/To'oto'o (USF), 21-16, 21-19
4. Camille Araujo/Rogers (USF) def. Lauren Cline/Hanne De Schrijver (PAC), 21-16, 21-9
5. Bondar/Pemberton (USF) def. Alyna Abeleda-Mostajo/Sarah Bethean (PAC), 21-10, 21-12
 
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 4, 1, 3