Stanford, Calif. – No. 13 Stanford finished out its weekend at home with a 3-2 loss against No. 20 Saint Mary's and a 4-1 victory against San Jose State.
Stanford's (4-7) loss against Saint Mary's is its second of the season. This time however, it was a much closer match, with each flight extending to three sets.
The No. 2 freshman duo, Tori Ashkinos and Charlie Ekstrom, put Stanford on the board first after defeating the Gaels in three sets. After losing the first set by only two points, the pair fought to tie the dual, 1-1.
Saint Mary's clinched the match after three set wins at the four and five.
Stanford's No. 3 pairing, Hentz/Smith, pushed into a third set, despite being down 3-1 on the match. After back and forth points, the duo came away with a win, as Stanford fell 3-2.
Not long after the completion of the first match, Stanford returned to the sand to take on San Jose State.
"Our team showed a lot of mental toughness", said Head Coach, Andrew Fuller. "The team had about twelve minutes to shake off a tough loss against Saint Mary's before playing San Jose State."
The Nos. 1 and 2 each dominated in straight sets, putting Stanford up 2-0. Bowen was a driving force at the one, executing at least one block per rally.
"Bowen is hitting blocking moves that I have never seen", said Fuller. "And I have seen a lot great beach volleyball players around the world."
Hentz and Smith clinched the match for Stanford in straight sets and recorded their second win of the day as a pair.
After two days of back-to-back matches on The Farm, Stanford is off from competition next weekend as the players head into finals. Stanford's next matches will take place in Long Beach, California against Long Beach State and Nebraska on Saturday, March 23rd.
No. 20 Saint Mary's 3, No. 13 Stanford 2
1. Sarah Chase/Kelsey Knudsen (SMC) d. Courtney Bowen/Sunny Villapando (STAN) 19-21, 21-12, 15-13
2. Tori Ashkinos/Charlie Ekstrom (STAN) d. Emily Bible/Lindsey Calvin (SMC) 18-21, 21-12, 15-10
3. Morgan Hentz/Amelia Smith (STAN) d. Alexsa Parker/Sienna Young (SMC) 15-21, 21-17, 15-10
4. Morgan Kendrick/Jennifer Laird (SMC) d. Maddie Dailey/Jordan McKinney (STAN) 10-21, 21-9, 15-8
5. Selbie Christensen/Chandler Cowell (SMC) d. Shannon Richardson/Blake Sharp (STAN) 12-21, 21-18, 10-15.
Order of Finish: (2, 1, 5, 4, 3)
No. 13 Stanford 4, San Jose State 1
1. Courtney Bowen/Sunny Villapando (STAN) d. Caitlin Bettenay/Tabea Schwartz (SJSU) 21-15, 21-16
2. Tori Ashkinos/Charlie Ekstrom (STAN) d. Luiza Andrade/Giulia Gávio (SJSU) 21-17, 21-17
3. Morgan Hentz/Amelia Smith (STAN) d. Ciara Reistad/Ryann Thomison (SJSU) 21-10, 21-12
4. Maddie Dailey/Jordan McKinney (STAN) d. Thaliana Grajeda/ Kaitlynn Zdroik (SJSU) 21-17, 19-21, 15-10
5. Julia Goldbeck/Sarah Smevog (SJSU) d. Shannon Richardson/Blake Sharp (STAN) 21-18, 21-19
Order of Finish: (1, 2, 3, 5, 4)
