UCLA
Pairs First & Second Rounds
McNamara Twins Advance to Pac-12 Semis
April 29, 2016 | Beach Volleyball
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LOS ANGELES -- The Pac-12 Pairs Championship got underway Thursday afternoon and both UCLA pairs picked up first-round victories before having to square off in quarterfinal action at USC's Merle Norman Stadium.
The third-seeded duo of freshmen Megan McNamara and Nicole McNamara opened with a 21-14, 21-9 victory over 14th-seeded Catherine Raquel and Ivana Vanjak of Stanford.
Then sixth-seeded sophomore Ivey Schmitt and senior Kamila Tan posted a come-from-behind, 16-21, 21-19, 16-14 win over No. 11 Courtney Schwan and Cassie Strickland of Washington.
That set up a quarterfinal match between the two Bruin pairs. The McNamara twins defeated Schmitt/Tan in two close sets, 21-15, 21-18, to advance to tomorrow's semifinals.
In the semifinals, the McNamaras will face another pair of twins, Madison and McKenna Witt of Arizona at 10:00 a.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
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.
