Beach Dawgs Into Pac-12 Final Four Once Again

Friday, April 27

Stanford, CA

9:45 AM

University of Washington

Arizona State

April 27, 2018 | Beach Volleyball

Pac-12 Championships Home Page

By: UW Athletic Communications

STANFORD, Calif. – For the third time in the three years of the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championships, Washington is one of the last four teams in the hunt heading into the final day of the tournament, and got there with an exciting upset. The sixth-seeded Dawgs got a little payback today when it mattered most, first avenging an earlier loss to Arizona State, and then knocking out the host Stanford Cardinal, a team that had beaten the Huskies in both prior matches this season.

With the two victories, both by 4-1 counts, the Huskies advance in the contender's bracket to take on third-seeded and 12th-ranked California at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The winner of that match will face the loser between the top-two seeds, UCLA and USC, for a spot in the final. Cal and the Huskies will be playing for a fourth time this year. The Bears beat the Dawgs in the Pac-12 Championship opener yesterday in a 4-1 match that was closer than the final indicated.

Once again the Huskies (14-12) provided the first "upset" of the tournament, at least based on the seedings. But the Huskies have played their best come tournament time each of the past two years. In the inaugural tourney in 2016, UW was seeded seventh and finished fourth. Last year they were seeded seventh and finished third. The Dawgs will see if they can match or exceed that finish tomorrow.

Head Coach Steve Whitaker was "Pretty impressed from top to bottom with the team. I think our fours and fives are coming through at an incredible time. To have Kara and Anna win three in a row and then to have Nat and Sam win their first match tonight against Stanford was huge. They kind of set the tone for us."

"The message to them was be present, be in this next point alone," Whitaker said. "I think we've gotten better each time we've played so if we can stand on that we can keep going. We're just trying to keep that mindset, and I'm sure Cal is right there with us in terms of getting better. I think it's going to be an awesome match tomorrow."

Match 2 vs. Stanford

While Courtney Schwan and Destiny Julye dramatically clinched the win over the 13th-ranked Cardinal at the No. 2 spot, it was the No. 5 position that really energized the Huskies early on. Freshmen Samantha Drechsel and Natalie Robinson got their first win of the tournament and did it in straight sets, 21-16, 21-14, over Shannon Richardson and Blake Sharp to give the Dawgs the first point.

When Anna Crabtree and Kara Bajema won again at No. 4 to go 3-0 thus far in the tourney the Huskies had a 2-0 cushion going into the top three matches. Crabtree and Bajema handled Cait Keefe and Payton Chang, 21-11, 21-17.

Stanford wouldn't go down without a fight, however. The Cardinal won first sets at No. 1 and No. 2, and made a big run at No. 3 from down 17-20 to holding four set points, but Carly DeHoog and Shayne McPherson saved them and won their first set, 26-24, on a block from DeHoog to help swing back the momentum.

At the No. 1 spot, Anderson and Gardiner had a set point chance to take their match to a third set, but Stanford's Bowen and Villapando fought it off to win, 21-19, 23-21, making it 2-1 overall.

Schwan and Julye rallied back at the No. 2 position, winning their second set, 21-16, over Morgan Hentz and Amelia Smith after losing a close first set, 19-21. With the No. 3 match also going into a third set, the dual was up for grabs, but Julye and Schwan jumped out early in the third and Julye smashed one crosscourt to end it, 15-10.

DeHoog and McPherson would then bounce back and also win their third by a 15-11 score for the final 4-1 count. DeHoog and McPherson went 3-0 against Stanford this year and their 18 wins is the new UW single season record for a pair.

Match 1 vs. Arizona State

In their first match of the day, the Huskies eliminated the seventh-seeded Sun Devils by a 4-1 count. Once again the Dawgs showed evidence of their progress, as they got payback for a 1-4 loss to the Sun Devils back at the Pac-12 South Invitational just over a month ago.

In the same manner as Thursday's match, the Huskies split the first two matches to take the sand, winning at No. 4 but falling at No. 5 to go into the top three matches tied 1-1. From there the Dawgs won in straight sets at the top two spots and then Carly DeHoog and Shayne McPherson pulled out a marathon at No. 3 for the final point.

ASU got a win at No. 5, 21-17, 21-10 for Plaster/Baldwin over Samantha Drechsel and Natalie Robinson, but moments later Kara Bajema and Anna Crabtree won their fourth straight match, 21-19, 21-14, over Cross/Flood at the No. 4 spot.

Jordan Anderson and Kimmy Gardiner put the Dawgs in front with a 21-15, 21-10 win over Kwyn Johnson and Mia Rivera at the No. 1 position. The clincher came from Courtney Schwan and Destiny Julye at the No. 2 spot as they overcame Frances Giedraitis and Natalie Braun, 21-17, 21-12.

At the No. 3 spot, the first set between DeHoog/McPherson and ASU's Lundberg/Carballo had 10 set points before the Huskies finally put it away, 30-28, on their sixth set point chance. ASU forced a third set with a 21-19 win, and then led 13-8 in the third set, but DeHoog and McPherson won five straight points to tie it up at 13-all. ASU broke the run and had a match point, but the Dawgs saved it and went ahead on a McPherson ace and then won it on the next point to win, 16-14.

Washington Beach Volleyball
Pac-12 Championships
April 27, 2018 – Stanford, Calif.

Contender's Bracket

Match 2

(6) Washington – 4
(4) Stanford – 1

1. Bowen/Villapando (Stan) def. Anderson/Gardiner (Wash), 21-19, 23-21
2. Schwan/Julye (Wash) def. Hentz/Smith (Stan), 19-21, 21-16, 15-10
3. DeHoog/McPherson (Wash) def. Formico/Raquel (Stan), 26-24, 16-21, 15-11
4. Crabtree/Bajema (Wash) def. Keefe/Chang (Stan), 21-11, 21-17
5. Drechsel/Robinson (Wash) def. Richardson/Sharp (Stan), 21-16, 21-14
Order of finish: 5, 4, 1, 2*, 3

Match 1

(6) Washington – 4
(7) Arizona State - 1

1. Anderson/Gardiner (Wash) def. Johnson/Rivera (ASU), 21-15, 21-10
2. Schwan/Julye (Wash) def. Giedraitis/Braun (ASU), 21-17, 21-12
3. DeHoog/McPherson (Wash) def. Lundberg/Carballo (ASU), 30-28, 19-21, 16-14
4. Crabtree/Bajema (Wash) def. Cross/Flood (ASU), 21-19, 21-14
5. Plaster/Baldwin (ASU) def. Drechsel/Robinson (Wash), 21-17, 21-10
Order of finish: 5, 4, 1, 2*, 3