BERKELEY, Calif. — Santa Clara beach volleyball opened its 2018 season with a road loss against Cal on Thursday afternoon at the Clark Kerr Sand Courts. Playing the first of five duals in three days, the Broncos (0-1) dropped all five matchups against the Bears (2-1).
Tessie Powers/Ngozi Nwabuzoh (No. 3) and Tatiana San Juan/Allison Kantor (No. 4) came the closest to taking a set as each pair reached 17 points in its respective first frame. Kirsten Mead, one of two seniors and the only Bronco with three years of collegiate beach volleyball experience, paired with Taylor Odom at the top spot and improved by six points between their first and second sets.
Odom, Powers and Gretchen Reinert — who teamed up with Hailey Lindberg at No. 2 — each made their team debuts on Thursday.
RESULTS
No. 1 - Jessica Gaffney/Iya Lindahl (CAL) def. Kirsten Mead/Taylor Odom (SCU) 21-9, 21-15
No. 2 - Mima Mirkovic/Alexia Inman (CAL) def. Hailey Lindberg/Gretchen Reinert (SCU) 21-12, 21-8
No. 3 - Bryce Bark/Madison Dueck (CAL) def. Tessie Powers/Ngozi Nwabuzoh (SCU) 21-17, 21-11
No. 4 - Mia Merino/Caroline Schafer (CAL) def. Tatiana San Juan/Allison Kantor (SCU) 21-17, 21-12
No. 5 - Grace Campbell/Maddie Micheletti (CAL) def. Erin Reineking/Michelle Gajdka (SCU) 21-10, 21-8
NEXT UP
Santa Clara begins play in the Stanford Bay Area Kickoff on Friday morning. The Broncos take on West Coast Conference foes in San Francisco (9 a.m.) and Pacific (noon). On Saturday, the team rounds out the competition against Sacramento State (9 a.m.) and Saint Mary's (3 p.m.).
