HONOLULU – No. 11 Stanford dropped its first two matches of the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic Saturday, falling 5-0 to No. 1 UCLA and 4-1 to No. 4 Pepperdine.
The Cardinal's five freshmen, Tori Ashkinos, Maddie Dailey, Melissa Daniel, Charlie Ekstrom and Blake Sharp, all tallied their first collegiate starts.
"The freshmen came in ready to compete on their first weekend of their collegiate careers", said head coach Andrew Fuller. "It was really cool to see their responses against two of the top five programs in the country."
Against the Bruins, Dailey and Morgan Hentz forced the Cardinal's lone three-set match at the No. 3 spot, winning 21-13 in the second set.
In the second match of the day, No. 11 Stanford fell to No. 4 Pepperdine, 3-2.
The Waves cliched the first three matches early with straight-set wins at the Nos.1, 4 and 5. The second and third flights fought to get the Cardinal on the board, forcing a three-set match in each.
At No. 2, Ashkinos and Courtney Bowen overcame a 21-19 first set loss to earn a 22-20 second-set win, giving Stanford its first point of the day.
Dailey and Hentz contributed a 21-14, 19-21, 15-12 victory at the No. 3 spot.
"Pepperdine is a top team and is well coached", said Fuller. "We obviously wanted that one and we were right there, but there is no replacing competition and what we can learn it."
Stanford continues play at the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic on Sunday, facing Saint Mary's at 2 p.m. PT and No. 5 Hawai'i at 5 p.m. PT.
No. 1 UCLA 5, No. 11 Stanford 0
1. Sarah Sponcil/Lily Justine (UCLA) def. Charlie Ekstrom/Sunny Villapando (STAN) 21-12, 21-19
2. Zana Muno/Abby Van Winkle (UCLA) def. Tori Ashkinos/Courtney Bowen (STAN) 21-18, 21-16
3. Savy Simo/Mac May (UCLA) def. Maddie Dailey/Morgan Hentz (STAN) 18-21, 21-13, 15-10
4. Izzy Carey/Megan Muret (UCLA) def. Melissa Daniel/Amelia Smith (STAN) 21-10, 21-9
5. Madi Yeomans/Lindsey Sparks (UCLA) def. Blake Sharp/Jordan McKinney (STAN) 21-13, 21-5
Order of finish: Doubles (4,5,1,2,3)
No. 4 Pepperdine 3, No. 11 Stanford 2
1. Brook Bauer/Heidi Dyer (PEP) def. Sunny Villapando/Charlie Ekstrom (STAN) 21-9, 21-17
2. Courtney Bowen/Tori Ashkinos (STAN) def. Gigi Hernandez/Deahna Kraft (PEP) 21-19, 22-20
3. Maddie Dailey/Morgan Hentz (STAN) def. Jenna Tunnell/Skylar Caputo (PEP) 21-14, 19-21, 15-12
4. Maddie Dilfer/Alexis Filippone (PEP) def. Amelia Smith/Melissa Daniel (STAN) 21-13, 21-15
5. Nikki Lyons/Katie Gavin (PEP) def. Blake Sharp/Jordan McKinney (STAN) 26-24, 21-12
Order of finish: Doubles (4,1,5,2,3)
