MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — The Santa Clara University beach volleyball team saw its first action of 2022-23 over the weekend, sending two pairs to the Sand Court Experts Collegiate West Coast Pairs Championships at Manhattan Beach.
Casey Campbell and Alexie Epstein teamed up, and Claire Doud and Kathrine Kishton partnered for the Broncos. The tournament included pairs from every top-20 ranked program on the West Coast, as well as last season's No. 6 TCU and Boise State all the way from Idaho.
"I think it's always beneficial for us to go play top-25 programs," said Santa Clara head coach Jeff Alzina. "We saw what the level is that we need to get to. We're in a chasing position right now. We've been gaining ranking spots by the dozen in the last couple of years. Our goal is to be a top-20 team and be in competition for an at large berth for Gulf Shores [Ala.] and compete for a national championship."
Campbell and Epstein faced No. 9 Grand Canyon's Allison Hansen and Allanis Navas in their first match on Friday. Hansen and Navas entered the tournament seeded sixth out of 37 pairs. GCU's duo went on to sweep Campbell and Epstein, 21-13 and 21-16. The Broncos pair then faced No. 18 Arizona's team of Hope Shannon and Caroline White. Campbell and Epstein pushed the Wildcats pair in the first game, only falling by four points, 21-17. Shannon and White completed a sweep with a 21-11 win in the second game.
Campbell and Epstein concluded their tournament run on Saturday, falling to No. 15 Long Beach State's pair of Skyler Germann and Taylor Hagenah, 21-11, 21-7.
Campbell and Epstein's full results can be found here.
Doud and Kishton played a very competitive match in their opener on Friday. They faced the UC Davis team of Kylie Miller and Tabitha Mitchell and only fell by three points in the first game, 21-18. They then pushed the Aggies to extra points in the second, barely getting beat by two points, 23-21.
Doud and Kishton then faced a familiar foe in No. 4 LMU's pair of Chloe Hooker and Abbey Thorup for their second match Friday. The Lions twosome would sweep Doud and Kishton, 21-9, 21-10. The Broncos pair concluded their tournament on Saturday against LBSU's team of Malia Gementera and Megan Widener. Doud and Kishton pushed them in the first game, only falling 21-17. Gementera and Widener completed a sweep with a 21-9 win in game two.
Doud and Kishton's full results can be found here.
The Broncos will next make an appearance at the American Volleyball Coaches Association Fall Pairs National Championship on Nov. 4-6 in Huntsville, Ala.
