University of Washington
Pairs 1st & 2nd Rounds
Huskies Grab Lone Upset In Pac-12 Pairs Play
April 29, 2016 | Beach Volleyball
Live Scoring Updates | Pac-12 Beach Brackets
LOS ANGELES - Washington pulled off the only upset on the first day of the inaugural Pac-12 Beach Championships pairs tourney, and nearly collected a second, but the top four seeds ultimately advanced through to the semifinals at USC's Merle Norman Stadium.
The Huskies' No. 1 pair, Crissy Jones and Tia Scambray, were seeded 10th in the field of sixteen, and the No. 2 team of Cassie Strickland and Courtney Schwan was seeded 11th. Jones and Scambray knocked off the No. 7 seeds in the first round before falling in the quarterfinals to the No. 2 seeds from Arizona. Strickland and Schwan went to extra points in the the decisive third set before coming up just shy of upsetting the No. 6 seeds in round one.
Both of the Husky first round matches came down to the wire. Jones and Scambray went up against Cal's top tandem of Sarah Cole and Mia Merino. A marathon first set went to the Dawgs, 25-23, but Cal came back with a 21-17 second set win. The Huskies jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, the Bears cut it to a 9-7 lead, but Scambray and Jones hung on to put away Bears, 15-11.
Strickland and Schwan came out with confidence against UCLA's No. 2 team of Ivey Schmitt and Kamila Tan, taking an early 10-5 lead in set one, and keeping that advantage en route to a 21-16 first set win. UCLA stayed alive by claiming a tight set two, 21-19. The Huskies were down 9-11 in set three, but rallied to tie the score at 14-14. The Bruins staved off the Husky upset bid, however, with the next two points to get the 16-14 win.
Jones and Scambray took on Arizona's Madison and McKenna Witt in round two, the No. 2 overall seeds. The Huskies kept it close in both sets, but couldn't pull ahead, as the Wildcats took both sets by 21-15 counts to make the semis.
UW will play second-seeded UCLA, the fourth-ranked team in the country, in the first round of the team tournament tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Strickland and Schwan should get a second crack at the Bruins No. 2 in the dual.
