UCLA beach volleyball defeats LSU, proceeds to take on USC
After not finishing a match Friday, sophomore Lily Justine served an ace to win in straight sets on court two with junior Sarah Sponcil in Saturday’s match against LSU (Aubrey Yeo/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Angie Forburger
May 5, 2018 1:46 p.m.
The Bruins aren’t done yet.
No. 1-seeded UCLA beach volleyball (37-4) dominated No. 7-seeded LSU (27-14) 3-0 in its first dual of the contenders bracket Saturday, keeping its NCAA title hope alive.
On court two, sophomore Lily Justine served an ace in the gap of LSU to win the match 21-10 and 21-8. Justine and partner junior Sarah Sponcil strung together a 10-4 run in the second set and never looked back.
The duo put UCLA up 1-0 after failing to score any point for Bruins in their first day of the NCAA tournament, as both of their matches concluded unfinished.
After the 3-1 upset to No. 4-seeded Florida State on Friday, UCLA secured the opening sets on all five courts to open the dual against LSU.
Sophomore Savvy Simo and junior Zana Muno took an early 13-4 lead on court three, leading to a 21-13 win. Despite trailing 8-6 in the start of the second set, the pair put the Bruins up 2-0 with a 21-15 victory.
UCLA’s No. 1 pair of juniors Nicole and Megan McNamara never trailed in the opening set, jumping out to a 13-8 lead and taking the set 21-10.
On the pairs’ second chance to clinch the dual on court one, Nicole McNamara slammed a cross-court kill to win the set 21-17 and take down the Tigers.
UCLA will advance in the elimination bracket and face No. 5-seeded USC (27-13) on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Bruins are 4-1 against the Trojans this season, defeating the crosstown rival in the final two duals last weekend to win Pac-12 championship.
