Sacramento, Calif. - Playing a pair of matches on the road at Sacramento State on Sunday, April 7, the Pacific sand volleyball team split on the day as the Tigers beat Cal, 3-2, before falling to San Francisco, 3-2. On the year the Tigers moved to 2-3 with their split.
Kicking off play at the Hornets' Courts at 9:00 am, the Tigers got off to a quick start en route to their second-straight victory on the sand. Facing the Golden Bears, the Tigers picked up wins at the top spot as well as at No. 4 and No. 5 doubles. Leading the way at No. 1, freshman Kat Schulz and senior Hannah Clancy dominated their match against Cal's top pair, taking the match in straight sets, 21-15, 21-18 to secure the overall match victory.
In the fourth spot, freshmen Alicja Wilk and Kimmy Whitson picked up their first of two wins on the day as the young duo rebounded from an opening set loss to win in three. After dropping the opening set, 21-18, Wilk and Whitson grabbed dominated set two 21-13 before taking the third and decisive set, 15-8 for the win. Alongside of Wilk and Whitson, the Tigers' No. 5 team, junior Megan Birch and sophomore Katy Tagart used a three-set victory to secure Pacific's second point of the morning. After dropping a close 24-22 decision in the opening set, Birch and Tagart came back to win set two, 21-15, and take set three, 15-12.
With the opening win under secured against the Golden Bears, the Tigers went back to the sand in the afternoon looking to move over .500 for the first time on the year. Despite their best efforts, Pacific came up just short as San Francisco was able to use three third-set victories to down Pacific in the final match of the day. In a close match that could have gone either way, the Tigers and the Dons went to three-sets in all five matches with the winner decided by just a handful of key points.
In the loss, the Tigers took both the No. 1 and No. 4 spots in the order as Wilk and Whitson won for the third time as the duo picked up a three-set victory at No. 4 while Clancy and Shulz won in the top spot for the third-straight time. Early in the Tigers' match with the Dons, Wilk and Whitson secured Pacific's first point of the afternoon by winning the first set, 21-17, before being forced to a third-set where the Tigers won 15-11. At No. 1, Schulz and Clancy were also forced to a third-set as the duo took the decisive game 15-11, as well. Prior to the third, Schulz and Clancy took the first set 21-18 before falling in the second set 21-13.
Pacific is back in action on Sunday, April 14, when the Tigers host their first-ever home matches on their new on-campus facility. Pacific will take on Santa Clara at 9:00 am before a rematch with Cal at 3:00 pm.
