FORT WORTH, Texas – The #16 Pepperdine beach volleyball team finished out the TCU Invitational on Saturday, falling to #9 Stanford and #2 TCU. 
 
The Waves (19-10) started the day with a nail-biter against the Cardinal, eventually falling 3-2, and then ended the tournament with a 5-0 loss to the tournament-host Horned Frogs to close out the regular season. The squad finished the tournament 2-2 on the weekend.
 
Pepperdine will have a week off before returning to the sand in Santa Monica for the WCC Championships.
 
RESULTS
#9 Stanford def. #16 Pepperdine, 3-2
1. Melanie Paul/Madison Shields (PEPP) def. Xolani Hodel/Kate Reilly (STAN) – 21-19, 14-21, 15-13
2. Charlie Ekstrom/Maddi Kriz (STAN) def. Simone Priebe/McKenna Thomas (PEPP) – 21-11, 21-23, 15-13
3. Emmy Sharp/Taylor Wilson (STAN) def. Peyton Lewis/Juju Quintero (PEPP) – 21-13, 19-21, 15-13
4. Maddie Dailey/Maya Harvey (STAN) def. Cameron Baklenko/Kate Clermont (PEPP) – 21-16, 21-18
5. Rio Frohoff/Savana Greene (PEPP) def. Emma Morris/Jordan McKinney (STAN) – 25-27, 23-21, 17-15
Exh. Jordan Benoit/Gracie Pedersen (PEPP) vs. STAN/STAN – 19-21, 21-19, unfinished
Order of finish: 4, 5, 3, 1, 2*
 
#2 TCU def. #16 Pepperdine, 5-0
1. Tania Moreno/Sutton Mactavish (TCU) def. Melanie Paul/Madison Shields (PEPP) – 21-19, 19-21, 15-12
2. Hailey Hamlett/Kaylie McHugh (TCU) def. Simone Priebe/McKenna Thomas (PEPP) – 21-17, 21-15
3. Alexis Filippone/Hailey Brockett (TCU) def. Peyton Lewis/Juju Quintero (PEPP) – 21-13, 27-25
4. Maria Gonzalez/Ana Vergara (TCU) def. Cameron Baklenko/Kate Clermont (PEPP) – 21-18, 16-21, 15-5
5. Megan Muret/Rochelle Scott (TCU) def. Rio Frohoff/Savana Greene (PEPP) – 21-18, 21-10
Exh. Jordan Benoit/Gracie Pedersen (PEPP) vs. TCU/TCU – 7-21, 21-19
Order of finish: 5, 4, 2*, 3, 1
 
MATCH RECAPS
Things began a little slowly for the Waves as the squad dropped first sets on courts four and five to open the match.  Stanford would continue with their momentum for the first point with a two-set win in the No. 4 position. 
 
Rio Frohoff and Savana Greene were ready to tell a different story in the No. 5 position, battling back to force a third after splitting the opening sets 25-27, 23-21.  They then went point-for-point en route to a 15-15 tied score down the final stretch, putting down the final two points to win their match and tie the overall for the Waves.
 
The second flight would be exciting from start to finish on all three top courts.  After splitting the first two sets 21-13, 19-21 on court three, Peyton Lewis and Juju Quintero had a see-saw battle in the No. 3 position that reached a 13-13 tie, but the opposition was able to pull ahead to gain the overall edge once again.
 
Melanie Paul and Madison Shields had won their first set 21-19 before falling in the second 14-21 on court one, but the pair was resilient throughout the third set, taking the 15-13 win to tie the overall once again for the Waves. 
 
Simone Priebe and McKenna Thomas had battled back to force a third after marking 11-21, 23-21 first and second sets.  Again, each side traded points, but Stanford would be victorious with a 15-13 final set score to earn the 3-2 dual win.
 
In the second dual, the Waves started slow, but Baklenko and Clermont breathed some life into the action with a second set win to force a third, though the opposition eventually won in three to pull ahead 2-0 after the first flight.
 
In the second flight, TCU clinched the dual with a win on court two and though the Waves made it interesting on court three, dropped to a 4-0 deficit with only the top-court left in action.
 
Paul and Shields were able to force a third after splitting the first two sets with 21-19 scores, but the Horned Frogs finished the dual with a 15-12 set win and the 5-0 sweep.
 
NEXT UP
After a week off next week, the Waves will head down to Santa Monica for the WCC Championships on April 29 and 30.

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