Beach Volleyball Drops Opening-Day Contests

Michelle Gajdka paired with Liliana Light for a three-set dual victory over San Francisco on Saturday.

Posted: Feb 23, 2019

BERKELEY, Calif. — Santa Clara beach volleyball dropped both duals of an opening day doubleheader on Saturday. The Broncos were swept by No. 12 Cal in the opener and lost 3-2 against San Francisco in the nightcap at the Clark Kerr Sand Courts.

The Golden Bears won all five matches in straight sets and limited the Broncos to 15 points or fewer in each set. Kathryn Decker/Gretchen Reinert tallied the most total points for Santa Clara in the opener.

Santa Clara scored match victories from Alex Anthony/Chloe Loreen at No. 2 and Liliana Light/Michelle Gajdka at No. 3 against the Dons; Anthony, Loreen and Light took the sand for their first day of beach competition on Saturday. San Francisco claimed the No. 1 spot in two sets and the No. 4 and No. 5 spots in three sets. The No. 2 through No. 5 matchups each went to three sets.

NO. 12 CAL 5 SANTA CLARA 0

1. Mima Mirkovic/Jordan Polo (CAL) def. Tessie Powers/Taylor Odom (SCU) 21-10, 21-7
2. Iya Lindahl/Caroline Schafer (CAL) def. Alex Anthony/Chloe Loreen (SCU) 21-12, 21-13
3. Grace Campbell/Maddie Micheletti (CAL) def. Liliana Light/Michelle Gajdka (SCU) 21-12, 21-7
4. Mia Merino/Abby Waldburger (CAL) def. Kathryn Decker/Gretchen Reinert (SCU) 21-13, 21-15
5. Madison Dueck/Alexia Inman (CAL) def. Brittany Gillingham/Natalia Rentsch (SCU) 21-11, 21-9

SAN FRANCISCO 3 SANTA CLARA 2

1. Carly Lowry/Anna Dalla Vecchia (USF) def. Tessie Powers/Taylor Odom (SCU) 21-18, 21-16
2. Alex Anthony/Chloe Loreen (SCU) def. Camille Araujo/Victoria Rogers (USF) 9-21, 21-17, 15-10
3. Liliana Light/Michelle Gajdka (SCU) def. Moana To'oto'o/Ella Reames (USF) 23-25, 21-15, 17-15
4. Emily Zinger/Madelyn Lafollette (USF) def. Kathryn Decker/Gretchen Reinert (SCU) 21-13, 7-21, 15-12
5. Lena Bondar/Tanner Pemberton (USF) def. Brittany Gillingham/Natalia Rentsch (SCU) 21-19, 14-21, 15-12

NEXT UP

The Broncos have more than a month until their next competition, the West Coast Conference Midseason Invitational on March 29-30 in Santa Cruz, California.

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