It came down to a single court in a three-set match again. And the Bruins still couldn’t clinch the dual.
No. 1 seed UCLA beach volleyball (31-3) fell to No. 2 seed USC (28-4) 3-2 for the second time this weekend in the final of the Pac-12 championship.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” said coach Stein Metzger. “But at the end of the day we want to win in Gulf Shores. That’s what’s important to us so we’ll take some good lessons from this.”
Senior Izzy Carey and freshman Lindsey Sparks gave the Bruins their first dual point for the third straight time. The 21-15, 21-18 court five win improved the pair’s record to 23-2.
On court four, junior Savvy Simo and sophomore transfer Lea Monkhouse – who fell to USC on Friday – won the first set before trailing the second 20-17.
But the pair fought off three set points to pull out a 23-21, 26-24 victory that put the Bruins up 2-0 heading into the second flight.
“It felt good to give the team the advantage to just need to win one instead of worrying about winning two,” Simo said.
But UCLA couldn’t win one.
“When their top three play well, that’s a challenge for us,” Metzger said. “We’ve got great fours and fives and that’s what has made us tough.”
The Trojans brought the dual to 2-2 with wins on courts one and three – two courts that they won in both duals against the Bruins this weekend.
Senior Sarah Sponcil and junior Lily Justine took the first set 21-18 on court two over USC’s Terese Cannon and Sammy Slater when Justine hit the ball backward over her head, landing it on Trojan territory.
UCLA dropped the second set 21-16, sending the match to a third set that determined the dual.
“There was a lot of stuff going on, and a lot of noise, so we just decided to play for each other and stick together as a team and block everything else out,” Justine said.
But Sponcil and Justine – who clinched the national championship for UCLA last season as well as the win against USC on Feb. 27 – couldn’t do it again.
Justine missed a hit that went out of bounds, giving the Trojans a 15-12 win.
“In the end, it was a battle of who was making less mistakes, so it was about being aggressive to make the other team play,” Justine said.
The Bruins are 2-3 against the Trojans on the season but will potentially face them again in the NCAA championships.
UCLA will have the opportunity to defend its national title in Gulf Shores, Alabama, on Friday.