Beach volleyball preps for quarterfinals of Pac-12 tournament after sweeping Oregon

Make it seven sweeps of Pac-12 teams for the Bruins.

No. 1 seed UCLA beach volleyball (29-1) opened the Pac-12 championships with a 3-0 win over No. 9 seed Oregon (5-10-1). The Bruins swept all three courts that finished and led on courts two and three despite being truncated.

Seniors Nicole and Megan McNamara clinched the win with a 21-13, 21-17 victory on court one. Nicole McNamara ended the match with a kill to the left that the Ducks could not return.

After learning it was playing Oregon just hours before the game, coach Stein Metzger said his team made sure it was ready for any opponent it should come up against.

“We have two scouting reports for each game,” Metzger said. “Once we know who we are going to face, we throw one away. But we also work on playing our game because if we play like we know we can, then we can win.”

Senior Izzy Carey and freshman Lindsey Sparks earned the first point for the Bruins, winning 21-12, 21-8 on court five. Carey’s last serve bounced off the top of the net and hit the sand before the Ducks could reach it.

On court four, the pair of sophomore Lea Monkhouse and junior Savvy Simo took down its opposition by a score of 21-13, 21-10. Monkhouse hit a spike right to an Oregon player, but the ball was too high for the Duck to return.

“(The goal) is to show our dominance,” Sparks said. “We just focus on ourselves and play against whoever is up next.”

Two other matches were underway, but truncated once the win was sealed. Senior Zana Muno and freshman Abby Van Winkle had multiple chances to win their match on court three, but the pair could not finish their opponents quickly enough, ending at 21-13, 23-22.

Senior Sarah Sponcil and junior Lily Justine were two points away from closing it out. The duo led 21-13, 19-13 when their game was stopped prematurely.

Megan McNamara said she is trying to take in the opportunity to further her team’s success in her final season.

“The team goal is to become two-time Pac-12 champions,” said Megan McNamara. “Personally, it’s about enjoying every moment out here because this is the last time I’ll be wearing a UCLA jersey.”

UCLA will face No. 4 seed Arizona (25-4) on Friday in the winners’ bracket quarterfinals. Metzger said the team will use the break to be at 100% before facing the Wildcats.

“It’s actually a longer break than we usually have,” Metzger said. “We’ll go back and scout but we’re just looking one game at a time and not trying to look any further than that.”