GULF SHORES, Ala. – The #4-seeded and #5-ranked Pepperdine beach volleyball team bowed out of the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships after dropping opening day matches to #5-ranked and #4-seeded LSU and top-ranked and -seeded USC. 
 
The Waves fell 3-0 in both matches to finish the 2019 campaign with a 20-11 overall record.
 
RESULTS­
#5 (#4) PEPPERDINE 0, #4 (#5) LSU 3
MAY 3 | NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS | ROUND ONE
GULF SHORES PUBLIC BEACH | GULF SHORES, ALA.
1. Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (LSU) def. Heidi Dyer/Brook Bauer (PEPP) – 21-19, 21-18
2. Deahna Kraft/Gigi Hernandez (PEPP) vs. Kelli Agnew/Olivia Powers – 14-21, 21-14, 11-9, unfinished
3. Alexis Filippone/Skylar Caputo (PEPP) vs. Toni Rodriguez/Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope – 17-21, 21-12, 2-2, unfinished
4. Olivia Beyer/Maddie Ligon (LSU) def. Nikki Lyons/Maddie Dilfer (PEPP) – 27-25, 21-19
5. Allison Coens/Hunter Domanski (LSU) def. Simone Priebe/Katie Gavin (PEPP) – 21-18, 21-17
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 4*
 
#5 (#4) PEPPERDINE 0, #1 (#1) USC 3
MAY 3 | NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS | ELIMINATION ROUND ONE
GULF SHORES PUBLIC BEACH | GULF SHORES, ALA.
1. Heidi Dyer/Brook Bauer (PEPP) vs. Tina Graudina/Abril Bustamante (USC) – 18-21, 14-15, unfinished
2. Deahna Kraft/Gigi Hernandez (PEPP) vs. Sammi Slater/Terese Cannon (USC) – 13-21, 16-13, unfinished
3. Alexandra Poletto/Haley Hallgren (USC) def. Alexis Filippone/Skylar Caputo (PEPP) – 21-16, 21-15
4. Joy Dennis/Maja Kaiser (USC) def. Nikki Lyons/Maddie Dilfer (PEPP) – 21-16, 21-15
5. Cami Dorn/Molly Ebertin (USC) def. Simone Priebe/Katie Gavin (PEPP) – 21-14, 21-14
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3*
 
MATCH RECAP
In the first match of the day, LSU and Pepperdine came to play, but the Tigers grabbed first set wins on all five courts to take an early advantage.  Allison Coens and Hunter Domanski took the first lead with a 21-18, 21-17 win over Simone Priebe and Katie Gavin on court five. 
 
Then Deahna Kraft and Gigi Hernandez on court two and Skylar Caputo and Alexis Filippone on three won the second set to force a third, but the Tigers had the lead on one and four.  Claire Coppola and Kristen Nuss defeated Heidi Dyer and Brook Bauer 21-19, 21-18 on one and Olivia Beyer and Maddie Ligon downed Nikki Lyons and Maddie Dilfer on four to clinch the dual and send Pepperdine into the elimination bracket to face top-seeded USC.
 
In the second match of the tournament, the Waves went head-to-head with top-ranked USC.  After trailing in all five first sets, the Waves on courts one and two bounced back with some second-set momentum. 
 
On court four, Joy Dennis and Maja Kaiser felled Lyons and Dilfer on four to pull ahead.  On court five, Cami Dorn and Molly Ebertin posted a pair of 21-14 set wins over Gavin and Priebe to put the Trojans in a position to close.  On court three, the opposition would do just that, beating Caputo and Filippone with a 21-16, 21-15 final mark to put the Waves out of the tournament.
 
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