STANFORD, Calif. — Santa Clara beach volleyball battled in a pair of close contests on opening day of the Stanford Bay Area Kickoff on Friday. The Broncos dropped 3-2 decisions to West Coast Conference opposition in San Francisco and Pacific at the Stanford Sand Volleyball Stadium.
Tatiana San Juan/Allison Kantor won both duals at No. 4 for the Broncos (0-3). They dispatched San Francisco's (1-0) Shannon Levinson/Pi'ikea Clemens in straight sets before rebounding from a first-set defeat against Pacific's (2-2) Hanne De Schrijver/Ashlyn Fleming to make it two victories on the day.
Tessie Powers/Ngozi Nwabuzoh (No. 3) picked up their first dual win as a pair in a tight contest against San Francisco's Nora Buvarp-Lavik/Camille Araujo that included an 18-16 final set. Erin Reineking/Michelle Gajdka (No. 5) capped the day's action with a straight-set win over Pacific's Olivia Petnicki/Kaitlyn Lines.
RESULTS
SAN FRANCISCO 3 SANTA CLARA 2
No. 1 - Haley Howell/Carly Lowry (USF) def. Kirsten Mead/Taylor Odom (SCU) 21-18, 21-16
No. 2 - Julia Topor/Anna Dalla Vecchia (USF) def. Hailey Lindberg/Gretchen Reinert (SCU) 28-26, 21-11
No. 3 - Tessie Powers/Ngozi Nwabuzoh (SCU) def. Nora Buvarp-Lavik/Camille Araujo (USF) 21-17, 16-21, 18-16
No. 4 - Tatiana San Juan/Allison Kantor (SCU) def. Shannon Levinson/Pi'ikea Clemens (USF) 21-15, 21-13
No. 5 - Sabrina Blackwell/Laura Leap (USF) def. Erin Reineking/Michelle Gajdka (SCU) 21-12, 17-21, 15-10
PACIFIC 3 SANTA CLARA 2
No. 1 - Skylar Wine/Maycie LaBass (PAC) def. Kirsten Mead/Taylor Odom (SCU) 21-19, 21-9
No. 2 - Roni Long/Taylor Poncetta (PAC) def. Hailey Lindberg/Gretchen Reinert (SCU) 21-10, 17-21, 15-11
No. 3 - Katrin Gotterba/Alex Holt (PAC) def. Tessie Powers/Ngozi Nwabuzoh (SCU) 21-9, 21-17
No. 4 - Tatiana San Juan/Allison Kantor (SCU) def. Hanne De Schrijver/Ashlyn Fleming (PAC) 13-21, 21-17, 19-17
No. 5 - Erin Reineking/Michelle Gajdka (SCU) def. Olivia Petnicki/Kaitlyn Lines (PAC) 21-18, 21-18
NEXT UP
The Broncos round out the competition on Saturday against Sacramento State (9 a.m.) and No. 19 Saint Mary's (3 p.m.).