STANFORD, Calif. – No. 10 Stanford beach volleyball split a pair of matches on Sunday to finish the Pac-12/WCC Challenge 3-1. The Cardinal defeated No. 11 Pepperdine, 3-2, in its first match of the day before suffering a 4-1 setback to Cal to cap the day.
Stanford remains firmly in contention for the NCAA Championships, with just eight teams qualifying. The Cardinal will have a chance to bolster its resume with four home matches next week before the Pac-12 Championships. Stanford will host Santa Clara, No. 5 LMU, No. 8 Grand Canyon and San Jose State next weekend to cap the regular season.
No. 10 Stanford 3, No. 11 Pepperdine 2
Flight #1: Carly Skjodt/Melanie Paul (Pepperdine) def. Charlie Ekstrom/Kate Reilly (Stanford) 21-12, 24-22
Flight #2: Xolani Hodel/Sunny Villapando (Stanford) def. Alexis Fillippone/Brooke Bauer (Pepperdine) 21-18, 14-21, 15-12
Flight #3: Simone Priebe/Sutton Mactavish (Pepperdine) def. Kylee Matheson/Maddi Kriz (Stanford) 21-17, 21-10
Flight #4: Emmy Sharp/Amelia Smith (Stanford) def. Mary Sinclair/Gracie Pedersen (Pepperdine) 21-9, 21-16
Flight #5: Maddie Dailey/Jordan McKinney (Stanford) def. Kristine Briede/Katie Gavin (Pepperdine) 21-12, 21-11
Order of finish: 4, 2, 3, 5, 1
No. 12 Cal 4, No. 10 Stanford 1
Flight #1: Mima Mirkovic/Caroline Schafer (Cal) def. Charlie Ekstrom/Kate Reilly (Stanford) 21-13, 21-15
Flight #2: Jordan Polo/Ainsley Radell (Cal) def. Xolani Hodel/Sunny Villapando (Stanford) 21-19, 21-16
Flight #3: Alexia Inman/Grace Paulson (Cal) def. Maddi Kriz/Kylee Matheson (Stanford) 21-17, 15-21, 15-8
Flight #4: Emmy Sharp/Amelia Smith (Stanford) def. Maya Gessner/Maddie Micheletti (Cal) 22-20, 21-19
Flight #5: Brooke Buchner/Ava Mann (Cal) def. Maddie Dailey/Jordan McKinney (Stanford) 21-18, 21-14
Order of finish: 2, 4, 5, 1, 3