Beach Volleyball | 4/10/2016 7:27:00 PM

Complete results

HERMOSA, Calif. – Two Dons duos advanced to the third-place game in their respective pairs brackets at the USA Volleyball Beach Collegiate Challenge on Sunday at Hermosa Beach Pier.

USF's No 2 pairing of Jurja Vlasic and Katarina Pilepic rallied to knock off Jenelle Hudson and Zoi Konstantopoulou of Long Beach State in the quarterfinals of the Gold Bracket. The Dons eventually fell to 49er pair Nele Barber and Rachel Nieto in the third place game.

After suffering a loss yesterday in the first round of the gold bracket, Oluoma Okaro and Sara Staengle bounced back in consolation play, swiftly defeating a pair of foes from Concordia to sweep to the top of the consolation bracket.

In the Silver Bracket, Jessica Gaffney and Kiara McKibben worked their way to the third place game after defeating Taylor Dennison and Kyra Auten in the quarterfinals. After dropping its three-set semifinal match, Gaffney and McKibben battled UCLA's Karly Drolson and Rachel Inouye to three before succumbing.

Playing deep in the Bronze Bracket, USF was well-represented throughout the pairs tournament. Dane Miller and Kellie Hirotsu defeated two teams from Concordia to win the bronze consolation bracket.

Overall, five of USF's six teams who competed in the weekend's pairs play won at least one match on the weekend.

The Dons concluded its regular season in team play yesterday with an overall record of 14-3, a program-best winning percentage (.824), and a No. 13 ranking in the latest DiG Magazine polls. Next in team competition, the Dons travel to the West Coast Conference Championship April 22-23, in Santa Monica, Calif.

Currently, USF is slated in second in the league standings with a 4-1 mark in conference play, while Saint Mary's stands at 3-1 with two league games remaining. Should the Dons finish in second, USF will take on the No. 7 seed at 10:30 a.m., and if USF closes the year in third, the squad will take on the No. 6 seed at 9 a.m., in the first round of the inaugural conference tournament.
 

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Sunday's Results
Gold Bracket:
QF: Vlasic/Pilepic (USF) def. Hudson/Konstantopoulou (LBSU); 16-21, 21-17, 15-9
SF: Hughes/Claes (USC) def. Vlasic/Pilepic (USF); 21-13, 21-8
3rd Place: Nieto/Barber (LBSU) def. Vlasic/Pilepic (USF); 16-21, 21-17, 15-10
Cons. SF: Okaro/Staengle (USF) def. Boyd/Rose (Concordia); 21-13, 21-15
Cons. F: Okaro/Staengle (USF) def. Flynn/Ames (Concordia); 22-20, 21-15
 
Silver Bracket:
QF: Wheeler/Martin (USC) def. Reed/Sabahi (USF); 21-17, 21-12
QF: Gaffney/McKibben (USF) def. Dennison /Auten (Concordia); 22-20, 21-16
SF: Wheeler/Martin (USC) def. Gaffney/McKibben (USF); 21-13, 19-21, 15-5
3rd Place: Drolson/Inouye (UCLA) def. Gaffney/McKibben (USF); 17-21, 21-16, 15-10
 
Bronze Bracket:
QF: Kernochan/Cannon (USC) def. Keenan/Gutierrez (USF); 21-11, 21-10
Cons. SF: Miller/Hirotsu (USF) def. Spear/Strysko (Concordia); 21-17, 24-22
Cons. F: Miller/Hirotsu (USF) def. Zolezzi/Andrews (Concordia); 21-12, 11-21, 15-7