NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – The University of Utah beach volleyball team improved on what is already the best start in school history by breezing to two more wins on Saturday, topping CSUN 4-1 and Santa Clara 5-0 at the CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex in Northridge, Calif.
Those two triumphs put the Utes at 9-3 so far in 2025, their best record ever through 12 matches.
Utah vs. CSUN
After suffering a narrow defeat at the hands of the Matadors on Friday, the Utes made sure Saturday's rematch was a very different story.
Sonja Wessel and
Maeve Griffin secured Utah's first point with a 21-15, 21-15 win at No. 4.
Bella Vezzani and
Langley Griffin followed with their seventh straight win out of the second flight, doing so in straight sets, 21-19, 21-13. CSUN then took the fifth match, but Utah's No. 1 tandem of
Quincy Stephens and
Katie McAlister locked down the victory by triumphing, 21-15, 21-16. The finishing touches were then applied by
Kylie Pitzak and
Ellyn Collins at No. 3, 21-11, 15-21, 15-13.
1 . McAlister, Katie/Stephens, Quincy (Utah) 2-0 Mae, Tasha/Lindhardt, Kinley (CSUN) 21-15 21-16
2 . Vezzani, Bella/Griffin, Langley (Utah) 2-0 Patrick, Ainsley/Coggins, Haley (CSUN) 21-19 21-13
3 . Pitzak, Kylie/Collins, Elly (Utah) 2-1 Cederlind, Layla/Miles, Maleya (CSUN) 21-11 15-21 15-13
4 . Wessel, Sonja/Griffin, Maeve (Utah) 2-0 Mendiola, Tia/Bazylevych, Julia (CSUN) 21-15 21-15
5 . Hall, Dylan/Heflin, Hannah (CSUN) 2-0 Sayre, Lauren/Narancich, Chloe (Utah) 23-21 21-16
Order of finish: 4, 2, 5, 1*, 3
Utah vs. Santa Clara
For the second straight day, the Utes overpowered the Broncos, this time doing so without dropping a single set.
For the second time on Saturday, Griffin and Wessel got their team off to an excellent start, winning the No. 4 match 21-12, 21-13 and Griffin and Vezzani followed suit in the second spot by a score of 21-15, 21-14.
The point that secured the win came courtesy of Pitzak and Collins at No. 3, 21-14, 21-13 and Stephens and McAlister closed out their match, 21-10, 24-22.
Elle Burleson and
Lauren Sayre completed the sweep by securing the fifth flight, 21-14, 21-17.
1.
Quincy Stephens/Katie McAllister (UTAH) def. Sadie Snipes/Sammy Wood (SCU), 21-10, 24-22
2.
Langley Griffin/
Bella Vezzani (UTAH) def. Alexandra Urbina/Holland Jackson (SCU), 21-15, 21-14
3.
Kylie Pitzak/Elly Collins (UTAH) def. Teagan Wilson/Callie Loughran (SCU), 21-14, 21-13
4.
Sonja Wessel/
Maeve Griffin (UTAH) def. Noelle Niederman/Ciara Cantlen (SCU), 21-12, 21-13
5.
Elle Burleson/
Lauren Sayre (UTAH) def. Ava Stoddard/Sveva Munneke (SCU), 21-14, 21-17
6. Hayley Hahn/Kawena Chillingworth (SCU) def.
Kayla Johnson/
Jayda Van Alfen (UTAH), 21-18, 21-14
Up Next
The next stop for the Utes is Stanford, Calif., where they'll play four times in two days, starting on Friday with matches against Stanford and Saint Mary's.
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