Pac-12 Championships Bracket Released
April 26, 2016 | Beach Volleyball
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SAN FRANCISCO -- Top-ranked USC and its undefeated pair of juniors Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes have claimed the top seeds for this week's inaugural Pac-12 Conference Beach Volleyball Championships.
Merle Norman Stadium, on the campus of USC in Los Angeles, will play host to the title event for the league's 23rd sponsored sport from Thursday, April 28 to Sunday, May 1. Seeds were determined by an appointed seeding committee upon completion of regular-season play this past weekend.
Action in the Pairs Bracket, consisting of the top two pairs from each of the league's eight programs, will begin on Thursday afternoon and culminate with semifinal and final matches televised on Pac-12 Networks beginning at 10 a.m. PT on Friday.
Claes and Hughes, who compiled an unblemished 36-0 overall record as USC's No. 1 duo, were joined by ARIZONA's Madison and McKenna Witt (17-1), UCLA's Megan McNamara and Nicole McNamara (11-7) and ARIZONA STATE's Bianca Arellano and Whitney Follette (15-9) in securing top four seeds in the Pairs Bracket. There could be a matchup of both UCLA pairs in the quarterfinals as the duo of Ivey Schmitt and Kamila Tan (14-6) earned the No. 6 seed.
The McNamara twins open the pairs tournament with Stanford's 14th-seeded duo of Catherine Raquel and Ivana Vanjak on Thursday, April 28 at 3:00 p.m. Simultaneously, the Bruins' duo of Tan/Schmitt squares off with the 11th-seeded pair of Cassie Strickland and Courtney Schwan of Washington.
Team Bracket play will open on Friday afternoon and continue through the weekend with the final four matches (Winner's Bracket semifinal, Contender's Bracket quarterfinal and semifinal, Championship Match) airing on Pac-12 Networks beginning at 9 a.m. PT on Sunday.
Top ranked USC (26-2) was followed by fellow AVCA Top 10 programs No. 4 UCLA (17-4) and No. 6 ARIZONA (15-3) among the top three seeds in the Team Bracket. CALIFORNIA (16-9), which is ranked No. 15 in DiG Magazine's Top 20 poll, and ARIZONA STATE (11-11) will meet in the #4/5 matchup, while STANFORD (5-10), WASHINGTON (3-4) and OREGON (2-8) round out the order of the eight-team field.
UCLA will face seventh-seeded Washington in the first round in the final dual of the day on Friday at 7:00 p.m. Should UCLA advance, the Bruins will take on the winner of No. 3 Arizona/No. 6 Stanford on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the double elimination bracket.
For additional information regarding the inaugural Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championships, including results, television schedules and details, please visit pac-12.com/beachvolleyballchamps.