MALIBU, Calif. – The final day of the Malibu Invite was all Waves as the #17 Pepperdine beach volleyball team downed UAB 4-1 before sweeping past West Coast Conference opponent San Francisco. The Waves went 3-1 throughout the tournament, winning the final three duals to advance their record to 6-2 overall.
The Waves No. 2 pair,
Kate Clermont and
Savannah Standage, remained undefeated, as the duo has only dropped four sets in eight matches this season. The first flight for Pepperdine has been largely dominant, as
Gracey Campbell and
Gabriella Perez have gone 7-1 overall, including a 4-0 output this weekend. The freshmen duo have entered four three-set matches so far this season, winning all of them by at least a margin of four.
RESULTS
#17 Pepperdine def. UAB, 4-1
No. 1: Brook Pertuit/Jasmine Haas (UAB) def.
McKenna Thomas/Alexus McLeod (PEPP) – 21-17, 22-20
No. 2: Savannah Standage/Kate Clermont (PEPP) def. Arden Copping/Mikayla Law-Heese (UAB) – 21-17, 15-21, 15-13
No. 3: Jordan Benoit/Juju Quintero (PEPP) def. Emma Andraka/Adriana Pereira (UAB) – 19-21, 21-15, 15-13
No. 4: Gracey Campbell/Gabriella Perez (PEPP) def. Jessica Ennis/Ella Alexander (UAB) – 15-21, 21-11, 15-8
No. 5: Madison Oriskovich/Kristine Briede (PEPP) def. Oliva Chychrun/Dominique Wofford (UAB) – 21-18, 21-14
Exh. Ali O'Donnell/Olivia Stant (UAB) def.
Chase Curry/Emi Erickson (PEPP) – 25-23, 21-10
Order of finish: 4, 2, 5*, 3, 1
#17 Pepperdine def. San Francisco, 5-0
No. 1: McKenna Thomas/Alexus McLeod (PEPP) def. McKenna Towne/Leti Aquilino (USF) – 21-13, 21-10
No. 2: Savannah Standage/Kate Clermont (PEPP) def. Rainie Stevens/Claire Crijns (USF) – 21-10, 21-11
No. 3: Aubrey Roberts/Mari Wright (PEPP) def. Branson Lennon/Rylie Reeves (USF) – 21-11, 21-5
No. 4: Gracey Campbell/Gabriella Perez (PEPP) def. Chessy Stanschus/ Jolie Gutierrez (USF) – 21-8, 21-10
No. 5: Madison Oriskovich/Kristine Briede (PEPP) def. Sophia Solomon/Isadora Nicolai (USF) – 21-9, 21-9
Order of finish: 2, 4, 3*, 1, 5
MATCH RECAPS
The pairs split the first couple of sets on both matches in the first flight, but each Waves' duo was able to overcome in the end. After rallying from a 21-15 first set loss on court four,
Gracey Campbell and
Gabriella Perez took the next set 21-11 to force a third. Pepperdine regained composure in the following set and dominated 15-8 to put the home team on the board first.
Savannah Standage and
Kate Clermont won their first set 21-17, but were answered by a 21-15 second set from UAB to force a third. The two's pair battled point-for-point en route to a 12-12 tied score, but the Waves' gritty performance played through, resulting in a 15-13 final set to put another point on the board for Pepperdine.
In the following flight,
Madison Oriskovich and
Kristine Briede would not give the Blazers a chance, collecting on 21-18 and 21-14 set wins in the No. 5 position to clinch the dual for the Waves.
The winning continued for Pepperdine as
Jordan Benoit and
Juju Quintero gritted out a 21-15 second set to force a third after dropping the first 21-15. The duo then continued with the advantage en route to a 15-13 third set to make it 4-0 Waves. UAB would collect the final win on court one to end the match 4-1 overall.
The Waves would make quick work of the Dons in the second dual, quickly taking a 2-0 lead after the first flight with a pair of two set wins from Clermont and Standage (21-10, 21-11) on court two and from Campbell and Perez (21-8. 21-10) on four.
Mari Wright and
Aubrey Roberts would be the pair to clinch in the final flight of the tournament, dominating their opponents on court three with a staggering 21-11, 21-5 final line.
McKenna Thomas and
Alexus McLeod gave Pepperdine another leg up with a 21-13, 21-10 in the No. 1 position and Oriskovich and Briede completed the sweep with an impressive pair of 21-9 sets in the No. 5 slot to end the weekend.
NEXT UP
On March 17 and 18, Pepperdine will make the trip to Phoenix, Ariz. to compete at the GCU Tournament against Arizona State, UC Davis and tournament host Grand Canyon.
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