Rachel InouyeRachel Inouye
UCLA Athletics

Bruins Wrap Up Pairs Tournament at Aloha Invitational

Beach Volleyball

All seven Bruin pairs were in action on Friday at Queen's Beach in Honolulu.

UCLA Sand Volleyball on Twitter 

HONOLULU - All seven Bruin tandems were in action today at Queen's Beach in the Pairs Tournament of the Aloha Invitational. The Bruins got off to a hot start, but none advanced past the semifinals.

The Gold Bracket included the top four flights from Long Beach State, Saint Mary's and UCLA.

UCLA's No. 1 pair of Kamila Tan and Zoë Nightingale received a bye in the first round of the gold bracket and opened the quarterfinals with a straight set win over Long Beach State's No. 3 pair of Bre Mackie and Jenelle Hudson, 21-14, 21-19 (LBSU3 moved to silver bracket). But the No. 1 Saint Mary's duo of Dalas Dodd and Alexis Salmons defeated Tan/Nightingale in the semifinals, 21-19, 21-13 (UCLA1 eliminated).

The Bruins' No. 2 pair of Madie Smith and Elise Zappia opened with a first round win in the gold bracket over the No. 4 Saint Mary's pair of Hannah Lisera and Maegan Conroy, 21-11, 21-8 (SMC4 moved to silver bracket). But LBSU's No. 1 pair of Delainey Aigner-Swesey and Chelsea Cabrajac defeated Smith/Zappia, 21-15, 21-19 (UCLA2 moved to silver bracket). In the silver bracket, the Bruin duo had to forfeit due to injury to No. 6 LBSU duo of Lindsey Lawmaster and Morea Wagner (UCLA 2 moved to bronze bracket). There, the Bruin pair again had to forfeit to the SMC No. 4 pair they had already defeated earlier in the day (Lisera/Conroy) and were eliminated from the tournament.

UCLA's No. 3 pair of Julie Consani and Laurel Weaver opened with a three-set win in the gold bracket over LBSU's No. 4 duo of Andrea McHugh and Ciana Wagner, 18-21, 21-19, 15-10 (LBSU4 moved to silver bracket). The No. 1 Saint Mary's tandem of Dodd/Salmons then defeated Weaver/Consani in three sets, 21-17, 18-21, 15-7 (UCLA3 moved to silver bracket). There, the No. 5 pair from LBSU (Rachel Nieto/Sammee Thomas) defeated Weaver/Consani), 25-23 (UCLA3 moved to bronze bracket). There, the Bruin duo defeated the No. 2 pair from Saint Mary's (Mary Hernandez/Clare Powers), 25-18 in the quarterfinals (SMC2 eliminated). In the semifinals of the bronze bracket, the LBSU4 pair of McHugh/Wagner) defeated Weaver/Consani, 25-21 (UCLA3 eliminated).

UCLA's No. 4 pair of Karly Drolson and Rachel Inouye opened with one of the largest upsets of the tournament in the gold bracket, defeating SMC's No. 2 pair (Hernandez/Powers) in three sets, 21-19, 19-21, 15-12 (SMC2 moved to silver bracket). "America's Team" then topped that upset with an even bigger one, dropping the LBSU No. 2 pair of Tyler Jackson and Aneta Brinke in three sets, 21-19, 12-21, 15-13 (LBSU2 moved to silver bracket). The top 49er team of Aigner-Swesey/Cabrajac defeated Droisan/Inouye in the semifinals of the gold bracket, 21-16, 21-11 (UCLA4 eliminated).

The Silver Bracket started with play-in games involving a pair of UCLA teams. The Bruins' No. 7 pair of Natalie Miller and Kristen Phillipp were eliminated with a 25-6 defeat to the LBSU No. 6 duo of Lindsey Lawmaster and Morea Wagner. The Bruins' No. 6 pair of Kendahl Hettick and Anastasia Kunz opened with a 25-5 win over SMC's No. 6 duo of Jordan Patchell and Samantha Tinsley (SMC6 eliminated). But in the second play-in round, Hettick/Kunz lost to the 49ers' Lawmaster/Wagner, 25-15, and were eliminated.

The Bruins' No. 5 pair of Lexi Jasper-Baylin and Ivey Schmitt opened first round silver bracket play with a 25-12 setback to the No. 3 Saint Mary's pair of Madi Wilkerson and Mileva Popovic (UCLA5 moved to bronze bracket). In the bronze bracket, Schmitt/Jasper-Baylin were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the 49ers' No. 4 pair of McHugh/Wagner, 25-12.

The Bruins return to action tomorrow with the team portion of the Aloha Invitational as Hawai'i joins LBSU, SMC and UCLA in the four-team field.