Beach volleyball nets six victories at FIU Surf and Turf Invitational
UCLA beach volleyball notched six straight wins at the FIU Invitational in Miami Friday and Saturday. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Grant Sugimura
April 2, 2017 5:20 p.m.
With six more victories at the FIU Surf and Turf Invitational in Miami, UCLA beach volleyball extended its school-record winning streak to 17 straight dual victories.
Over the course of Friday and Saturday, No. 3 UCLA (19-2) defeated No. 12 Arizona State (7-10), New Orleans (5-13), No. 14 Florida Atlantic (18-5), No. 4 Florida State (15-6), No. 15 Florida International (17-8) and Tulane (15-8).
The two biggest wins of the invitational may have come during the Bruins’ 3-2 victory over the Florida Atlantic Owls, which snapped their 17-match winning streak, and a 4-1 win over the Florida State Seminoles – for the second time this season.
On court one, the sophomore sister duo of Megan and Nicole McNamara went 4-2 throughout the tournament, falling only to Florida Atlantic’s Megan Rice and Jessalyn Kinlaw in two, and Florida International’s Margherita Bianchin and Federica Frasca in three.
The McNamaras’ only three-set victory was their first of the invitational. It was a come-from-behind win over Arizona State’s Bianca Arellano and Whitney Follette by set scores of 20-22, 21-15 and 15-6.
Every other court, other than court one, saw lineup changes throughout the weekend.
Indoor volleyball starters Jordan Anderson and Savvy Simo got into the mix at the invitational. The senior and freshman, respectively, generally saw action in courts four and five with a variety of partners.
But despite the lineup changes, UCLA was still able to finish the weekend with a record of 26-4 in individual court play.
With a long trip back home and a short turnaround, the Bruins take on the Cal Poly Mustangs and the LMU Lions at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center in UCLA’s only two true home games of the season.
