Beach Volleyball | 3/6/2016 8:13:00 PM

STANFORD, Calif. – The San Francisco beach volleyball team continues its solid start to the season, downing Sacramento State and San Jose State in the second day of the Stanford Tournament on Sunday.

"I'm proud of our team this weekend. They showed great charachter and toughness to start the season," said co-head coach Gilad Doron. "The team went 4-0 in extreme weather, rain and wind, but I was happy to see that the Dons showed the type of toughness we pride ourselves on." 

First, the Dons dispatched Sacramento State 4-1 powered by solid play throughout the lineup. The top four pairs in the lineup notched victories in the match, each in straight sets. In the No. 1 pairing of Oluoma Okaro and Sara Staengle needed extra points in the first before downing Madeline Cannon and Sloan Lovett 24-22, 21-16. Katarina Pilepic and Jurja Vlasic opened with a 21-7 first set before earning the sweep at the No. 2 position, which clinched the victory for the Dons.

In the afternoon match with San Jose State, Kiara McKibben and Jessica Gaffney got USF on the board first defeating NandyalaGamma and Luiza Andrade, 21-19, 21-19 to stay a perfect 4-0 on the season from the No. 4 position. The No. 3 pair of Emily Reed and Courtney Sabahi took their first set 23-21 and needed a marathon effort in the second to finish off Allison Meehan and Jamie Hirai with a 32-30 score in the second. The win at No. 3 put the Dons ahead in the match, and the No. 2 pair of Vlasic and Pilepic iced the victory to keep USF undefeated through the first weekend on the season.

USF now stands at 4-0 on the season, its best start in the fourt years of the fledgling program.

Next, the Dons host the San Francisco Invitational at Piper Park in Larkspur, Calif. USF plays Portland on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., and takes on San Jose State at 3:30 p.m. The Pilots and Spartans will dual at 12:30 p.m., in the all-day event from the North Bay.

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San Francisco 4, Sacramento State 1
No. 1 – Okaro/Staengle (USF) def. Cannon/Lovett (Sac St.); 24-22, 21-16
No. 2 – Pilepic/Vlasic (USF) def. Stanley/Boyle (Sac St.); 21-7, 21-18
No. 3 – Reed/Sabahi (USF) def. Kurtz/Skalbeck (Sac St.); 21-15, 21-18
No. 4 – Gaffney/McKibben (USF) def. Aikels/Murdock (Sac St.); def. 21-15, 21-13
No. 5 – Brown/Meadows (Sac St.) def. Keenan/Gutierrez (USF); 16-21, 21-18, 15-12
Exh. – Nocetti/Wright (Sac St.) def. Murtagh/Miller (USF); 24-26, 21-14, 15-12
 
San Francisco 3, San Jose State 2
No. 1 – Tresnakova/Menhart (SJSU) def. Okaro/Staengle (USF); 21-18, 21-12
No. 2 – Pilepic/Vlasic (USF) def. Roy/Scholl (SJSU); 21-15, 21-13
No. 3 – Reed/Sabahi (USF) def. Meehan/Hirai (SJSU); 23-21, 32-30
No. 4 – Gaffney/McKibben (USF) def. Gama/Andrade (SJSU); 21-19, 21-19
No. 5 – Golbeck/Sam (SJSU) def. Keenan/Gutierrez (USF); 19-21, 21-17, 15-13