University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Justine/Sponcil Named AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week
March 05, 2019 | Beach Volleyball
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LEXINGTON, Ky.ย -- UCLA senior Sarah Sponcilย (Phoenix, Ariz.) and junior Lily Justineย (Chico, Calif.) have been named the AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com national Pair of the Week as announced by the AVCA today.
The UCLA Bruins continued their perfect start (9-0) after winning four duals last week. Justine and Sponcil swept all four of their matches from the No. 2 position, extending their undefeated run to nine straight this season. In aย 3-2 win at No. 2 USC on Feb. 27, it all came down to their court,ย which Justine and Sponcil handled easily in two sets with a 21-18, 21-14 win over Tereseย Cannon and Sammy Slater.
The duo didn't drop a set on the week going 4-0 on court two to improve to 9-0 on the year. In the eight total sets played on the week, they only once surrendered more than 14 points in a set and three times held opponents to 10 or fewer points.ย The pair won a total of 168 points while dropping just 93.
The tandem provided two clinching dual point victories at No. 2 USC and against Washington (RV). After the win over USC, the Bruins posted three straight 5-0 sweeps at the Pac-12 South Tournament at Bear Down Beach in Tucson, Ariz., beginning with Arizona State (RV) and UW (RV)ย on Saturday, March 2 and culminating with No. 11 California on Sunday, March 3. UCLA currently sports a combined record of 42-3 on all five courts with six wins over ranked teams (all ranked in the top 11).
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TEAM RESULTS:
No. 1 UCLA def. No. 2 USC, 3-2 (at USC's Merle Norman Stadium)
No. 1 UCLA def. Arizona State, 5-0 (Pac-12 South Tournament)
No. 1 UCLA def. Washington, 5-0 (Pac-12 South Tournament)
No. 1 UCLA def. No. 11 California, 5-0 (Pac-12 South Tournament)
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PAIR RESULTS:
CT 2: Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) def. Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater (USC), 21-18, 21-14
CT 2: Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) def. Bailey Anderson/Ashley Wenz (ASU), 21-14, 21-5
CT 2: Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) def. Kristen Gengenbacher/Cat McCoy (UW), 21-12, 21-10
CT 2: Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) def. Lya Lindahl/Caroline Schafer (CAL), 21-9, 21-11
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This marks UCLA's third AVCA/CollegeBeachVB.com Pair of the Week honor, with their last coming on May 1st of last year with Mac May and Elise Zappia. The Bruins are the only program to have three awarded pairs.
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ย ย 2019 AVCA/COLLEGEBEACHVB.COM PAIR OF THE WEEK
| Mar. 5 | Lily Justine & Sarah Sponcil | UCLA |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 26 | Claire Coppola & Kristen Nuss | LSU |
