PALO ALTO, Calif. –  The Utah beach volleyball team fell to No.14-ranked Stanford in its opening match of the Stanford Invitational. The Utes fell 4-1 against the Cardinal Friday night in Palo Alto, with the lone win coming from the freshman pairing of Bailey Choy and Dani Barton.
 
Choy and Barton highlighted the day for Utah when the freshman duo competed as the No. 2 pair for the Utes. Choy and Barton knocked off Payton Chang and Ivana Vanjak in two sets, 21-19 and 21-16.

Competing as the No. 1 pair for Utah were Adora Anae and Eliza Katoa. The junior duo faced Kathryn Plummer and Jenna Gray, to whom they would fall in two sets, 21-11 and 21-16.
 
Junior Carly Trueman and freshman Brianna Doehrmann dropped a close match against Catherine Raquel and Shannon Richardson in the No. 3 spot. Trueman and Doehrmann fell 21-18, 21-19. Utah's No. 4 pairing of freshman Torre Glasker and Tawnee Luafalemana also lost in two sets, 21-10 and 21-12. Glasker and Luafalemana faced Morgan Hentz and Caitlin Keefe.
 
Rounding out the final pairing in the dual, sophomores Berkeley Oblad and Emily Twohig fell in three sets against Kat Anderson and Courtney Bowen. Utah's pair of sophomores dropped the match with scores of 21-23, 21-17, and 15-8.
 
Competing the exhibition match, sophomore Megan Boudreaux and freshman Lauren Sproule fell in straight sets, 21-10 and 21-17, to Jennifer DiSanto and Chelsea Red-Horse Mohl.
 
Utah will conclude action at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday facing California at 10 a.m. MT. The Utes will round out play against Saint Mary's at 2 p.m. MT.