UCLA Beach Volleyball Advances to Pac-12 Semifinals with Sweep of Arizona

The Bruins will meet the Trojans with a berth in the Championship Game on the line.

Lexy Denaburg and her dual partner Savvy Simo clinched yesterday’s victory over Arizona to set up today’s match against Southern Cal. (Photo Credit: Suzi Mellano/uclabruins.com)

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The UCLA beach volleyball stayed true to form and swept the Arizona Wildcats yesterday, 3-0, to advance to the semifinals in the Winner’s Bracket at the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championships which are being held this weekend at Mapes Beach on the UCLA campus.

The win sets up a showdown with crosstown rival Southern Cal, the top seed in the tournament, this morning at 9 am PT. The winner advances to the Championship Match while the loser will have to play the winner of Match #14 between UC Berkeley and Stanford at 12:30 pm PT. The Championship Match will be played at 4 pm PT this afternoon.

Last Time Out

Abby Van Winkle and Lindsey Sparks got things going well for UCLA by cruising past Natalie Anselmo and Carly Lowry, 21-11, 21-15, on Court Three. Rileigh Powers and Jaden Whitmarsh defeated Olivia Hallaran and Hope Shannon, 21-16, 21-19, to win the Bruins’ second point of the match on Court Five.

UCLA wrapped up the match and secured their place in the semifinals match against the Trojans when Savvy Simo and Lexy Denaburg finished off Alana Rennie and Alex Parkhurst on Court One, 21-16, 21-17.

The win by Simo and Denaburg brought an end to the duals on Courts Four and Two. When play was stopped, Megan Muret and Jacqueline Quade had won their first set, 21-18, but were trailing 3-0 in the second set. Meanwhile, Lea Monkhouse and Devon Newberry lost their first set, 21-17, and were trailing 10-6 in the second.

Southern Cal Trojans

While the Trojans have always been UCLA’s crosstown rivals, they have really been a thorn in the Bruins’ collective side this season. Not only are they the only team to beat UCLA this season, they’ve beaten the Bruins all three times the teams have met this year.

Southern Cal swept UCLA in the first meeting, 5-0, on March 4. More recently, the Trojans took the second meeting in San Luis Obispo with straight set wins in three of the first four duals to finish. But, in the regular season finale, which was played at Mapes Beach, the match came down to the third set on Court Five with the score of the match tied at 2-2.

Based on that, today’s semifinal match looks like it will be a close one, so close in fact that it looks to be a toss-up. That said, regardless of who wins Match #13, I expect Southern Cal and UCLA to be playing in the Championship Match later this afternoon.

Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championships

Match #13

Opponents: #2 UCLA Beach Volleyball (26-3) vs. #1 Southern Cal Trojans (25-2)
Game Time: 9:00 am PT, Saturday, May 1, 2021
Where: Mapes Beach, Los Angeles, CA
TV: Pac-12 Networks National, Los Angeles, Bay Area, Mountain and Arizona
Live Stream: Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast

Match #15 (if necessary)

Opponents: #2 UCLA Beach Volleyball (26-3) vs. UC Berkeley or Stanford
Game Time: 12:30 pm PT, Saturday, May 1, 2021
Where: Mapes Beach, Los Angeles, CA
TV: Pac-12 Networks Los Angeles, Bay Area, Mountain and Arizona
Live Stream: Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast

Championship Match

Opponents: #2 UCLA Beach Volleyball (26-3) vs. Southern Cal Trojans/UC Berkeley/Stanford
Game Time: 4:00 pm PT, Saturday, May 1, 2021
Where: Mapes Beach, Los Angeles, CA
TV: Pac-12 Networks National, Los Angeles, Bay Area, Mountain, Washington
Live Stream: Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast

Official Preview
Tournament Match Times


Go Bruins!!!!

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