Down Goes No. 1Down Goes No. 1
Meagan Blair
Beach Volleyball

Down Goes No. 1

STANFORD, Calif. – No. 8 Stanford earned its first-ever program dual-match win against No. 1 UCLA Thursday, upsetting the Bruins to move onto the winners bracket semifinals of the 2023 Pac-12 Championship at the Beach Volleyball Stadium. 

In the programs' fourth meeting of the season, the Cardinal edged out the Bruins with wins on courts one, three, and four. Freshman duo Kelly Belardi and Ashley Vincent topped the previously undefeated (as a pair) fours pair of the Bruins in Stanford's lone straight-set victory of the day, topping UCLA's Smith and Monserez 21-19, 21-18. 
 



UCLA quickly responded with wins on courts two and five, bringing the match score to 2-1.

The Cardinal's pair of junior Xolani Hodel and Maddi Kriz responded on court one, holding off a Bruins' comeback attempt with a three-set victory over Boyd and Denaburg, 21-15, 20-22, 16-14. 
 



With the dual all tied up, it all came down to the result on court three. Stanford's three pair of juniors Kate Reilly and Emmy Sharp made a statement in set one, pushing UCLA's Powers and Hallgren to extra points for the set victory, but could not hold off a Bruins' fierce comeback effort in set two and fell 21-18. Reilly and Sharp rebounded with its best performance of the day, topping UCLA 15-11 to clinch the match.
 



Action continues on The Farm tomorrow, as No. 8 Stanford takes on No. 9 California in the winners bracket semifinals, scheduled for 9 a.m. With a win, the Cardinal would play in the championship match, scheduled for 4 p.m. With a loss, Stanford would play an additional match at 1 p.m. in the contenders bracket. 

#8 Stanford 3, #1 UCLA 2
1 Xolani Hodel and Maddi Kriz (STAN) def. Maggie Boyd and Lexy Denaburg (UCLA)- 21-15, 20-22, 16-14
2.  Peri Brennan and Abby Van Winkle (UCLA) def. Charlie Ekstrom and Maya Harvey (STAN)- 19-21, 21-18, 15-11
3 Kate Reilly and Emmy Sharp (STAN) def. Rileigh Powers and Haley Hallgren (UCLA)- 22-20, 18-21, 15-11
4 Kelly Belardi and Ashley Vincent (STAN) def. Jessie Smith and Marlie Monserez (UCLA) 21-19, 21-18
5 Jaden Whitmarsh and Devon Newberry (UCLA) def. Line Andersson and Daria Gusarova (STAN)- 21-11, 21-19
Order of finish: 4, 2, 5, 1, 3*