LOS ANGELES, Calif. – No. 9 Stanford beach volleyball swept No. 11 Cal on Saturday at the Pac-12 Championships before a 3-0 setback against No. 1 USC in the Contender's Bracket final. Stanford, now 23-11 on the season, now awaits its fate for the NCAA Championships.
The 23 wins for Stanford are the most in program history. The Cardinal has 11 wins over teams ranked inside the Top 20 and five wins over Top-10 teams. All 11 of Stanford's losses are against ranked foe, with six of those losses coming against USC and UCLA.
Prior to Saturday, Stanford had never made it to the final day of the Pac-12 Championships. The Cardinal picked up its fourth win of the season over Cal with wins at No. 2, 3 and 4.
The win at No. 4 was an historic one, as Emmy Sharp and Amelia Smith improved to 19-2 on the season, surpassing Smith and Morgan Hentz's school record of 18 wins by a pair set in 2018. As an individual, it was Smith's 22nd win of the season, moving her one win shy of tying the school record, set by both Sunny Villapando and Courtney Bowen in 2018.
The NCAA Championships Selection Show is on Sunday at 4 p.m. PT and will be streamed on NCAA.com. The top three teams from the west, top three teams from the east and two at-large teams are selected for next weekend's field in Gulf Shores, Ala.
No. 9 Stanford 3, No. 11 Cal 0
Flight #1: Xolani Hodel/Sunny Villapando (Stanford) vs. Mima Mirkovic/Carolina Schafer (California) 21-16, 21-23, 10-5, unfinished
Flight #2: Charlie Ekstrom/Maya Harvey (Stanford) def. Jordan Polo/Ainsley Radell (California) 20-22, 22-20, 18-16
Flight #3: Maddi Kriz/Kate Reilly (Stanford) def. Alexia Inman/Ava Mann (California) 21-19, 21-12
Flight #4: Emmy Sharp/Amelia Smith (Stanford) def. Maddie Micheletti/Maya Gessner (California) 21-15, 21-15
Flight #5: Maddie Dailey/Jordan McKinney (Stanford) vs. Brooke Buchner/Grace Paulson (California) 13-9, unfinished
Order of finish: 4, 2, 3
No. 1 USC 3, No. 9 Stanford 0
Flight #1: Xolani Hodel/Sunny Villapando (Stanford) vs. Tina Graudina/Megan Kraft (USC) 19-21, 13-16, unfinished
Flight #2: Julia Scoles/Sammy Slater (USC) def. Charlie Ekstrom/Maya Harvey (Stanford) 21-13, 21-19
Flight #3: Haley Hallgren/Hailey Harward (USC) def. Maddi Kriz/Kate Reilly (Stanford) 21-11, 21-13
Flight #4: Joy Dennis/Delaynie Maple (USC) def. Emmy Sharp/Amelia Smith (Stanford) 21-18, 21-13
Flight #5: Maddie Dailey/Jordan McKinney (Stanford) vs. Audrey Nourse/Nicole Nourse (USC) 17-21, 9-12, unfinished
Order of finish: 4, 2, 3
