Twin Battle In Pac-12 Pairs Semifinals

Twin Battle In Pac-12 Pairs Semifinals

With day one of the inaugural Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pairs Tournament in the books, four duos remain in pursuit of the title. Top seed Kelly Claes and Sara

Apr 29, 2016 by Megan Kaplon
Twin Battle In Pac-12 Pairs Semifinals
With day one of the inaugural Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pairs Tournament in the books, four duos remain in pursuit of the title.

Top seed Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes of USC dominated the opposition. They defeated Natalie Braun and Kwyn Johnson of Arizona State 21-5, 21-6, and Jianna Bonomi and Katarina Schultz of Arizona 21-12, 21-7 to earn their spot in today’s semifinals.

They’ll face Arizona State’s top pair, tournament No. 4 seed Bianca Arellano and Whitney Follette. They forged their path to the semis by winning two three-set matches against Cal’s Bryce Bark and Kory Lamet and then USC’s Sophie Bukovec and Alexa Strange. Their second victory foiled the all-USC semifinal Trojan fans were hoping for. Now, the Sun Devil juniors will get a crack at the No. 1 seed, which with the two wins yesterday, now boasts a 63-match win streak.

On the opposite side of the bracket, our prediction of a twins-vs.-twins showdown in the semifinals came true. Arizona’s Madison and McKenna Witt swept their first and second round opponents—Martenne Bettendorf and Lindsey Vander Weide of Oregon and Crissy Jones and Tia Scambray of Washington, respectively—with identical 21-15, 21-15 scores to advance to the semis. They will take on UCLA’s Megan and Nicole McNamara, whose path to the semifinals went through Washington’s Courtney Schwan and Cassie Strickland and fellow Bruins Ivey Schmitt and Kamila Tan. The last time Arizona played USC on March 12, the Witt twins defeated the McNamaras in straight sets.

Today’s pairs semifinals will be played at 10 a.m. PT, with the final following at 11 a.m. PT. Both rounds will air live on the Pac-12 Networks. Next up, the team bracket, which starts at 1 p.m. PT today and will conclude Sunday with the final at 4 p.m. PT.