Southern California women sweep UCLA 3
GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) — Twin sisters Nicole and Audrey Nourse won the deciding match for a second straight season and top-ranked Southern California won its fourth straight beach volleyball championship with a 3-0 sweep over No. 2 UCLA on Sunday.
It was the first championship — since the NCAA recognized the sport in 2016 — where all five matches went to a third game.
USC (37-5) has won six of the eight championships — the last four under head coach Dain Blanton. UCLA (35-7) won the other two titles in 2018-19.
USC jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind its No. 2 and No. 4 pairs.
Twos Madison White and Maddi Kriz dropped the first game 14-21 to UCLA’s Peri Brennan and Devon Newberry before rallying for 21-19 and 15-13 victories in the next two.
The Trojans’ fours Grace Seits and freshman Ashley Pater lost the opener 24-26 to the Bruins’ Jaden Whitmarsh and Tessa Van Winkle. Seits and Pater trailed 8-4 in the second game but rallied for a 25-23 victory before dominating the third 15-8. Seits and Pater won their final five matches and finished 12-1 as a pair this season.