CHULA VISTA, Calif. - In the biggest win of the short, but promising history of the CSU Bakersfield sand volleyball team, the Roadrunners' No. 2 team of Shayna Guitare (Jr., Torrance, Calif., Pierce College) and Mariah Alvidrez (R-So., Bakersfield, Calif., Liberty HS) defeated the No. 2 team from Nebraska 2-1 (21-15, 16-21, 16-14) in the gold bracket of the opening round of the pairs tournament of the USAV Collegiate Challenge at the United States Olympic Training Center.

 

The 'Runners took the first set 21-15, then lost in the second set 21-16 before it pulled off an impressive 16-14 win in the third set.

"This is a huge highlight for the team," said CSUB head coach Aaron Shepardson. "They played amazing defensivley. They were outsized by five inches each and just played outstanding." 

In the second round, Alvidrez and Guitare lost to the No. 1 pair from No. 1-ranked Pepperdine 2-0 (21-10, 23-21), but did force extra play in a close second set. The duo will play in the gold medal consolation round on Saturday at 10 a.m. against the No. 1 pair from Grand Canyon.

Prior to diving up for the pairs tournament on Friday, CSUB (2-2) played two matches as a team and defeated Grand Canyon 4-1 before falling to No. 4 Florida State 5-0. Breakdowns for both matches attached as PDFs.

 

"I am really happy with Debora Araujo (Jr., Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Western Nebraska Community College) and Yuan Fu (Jr., Beijing, China, Missouri State-Western Plains), they went to three today and really battled a really good Grand Canyon team,” said CSUB head coach Aaron Shepardson said. "I was really proud of Kelsee Sawyer (Fr., Temecula, Calif., Great Oak HS) and Star Tucker-Campbell (Fr., Moorpark, Calif., Moorpark HS), I how they managed their emotions under pressure. After losing the first set, they came back and won in three and I thought that showed a lot of maturity. Overall, the competitive experience for all of them is usually something we would be lacking in the spring time and now we are going to be that much better and ready in the fall.” 

After playing Grand Canyon and Florida State, the tournament turned to a pairs format with the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams from each school, CSUB, Pepperdine, Florida State, Nebraska and Grand Canyon, all playing in the gold bracket, while the No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 pairs with all compete in the silver bracket. Both are double elimination, with finalists going on to the final and consolation rounds on Saturday.

The other 'Runner pair advancing to Saturday's finals is the No. 5 team of Sawyer and Tucker-Campbell. They will be playing in the consolation of the silver bracket and will take on the No. 4 team from Pepperdine at 11 a.m.

Results from the Friday's pairs tournament are listed below, along with Saturday's schedule:

PAIRS TOURNAMENT

Gold bracket winners round 1

 Guitare/Alvidrez CSUB2 def Thramer/Rolfsen NEB2 21-15,16-21, 16-14

Milosavljevic/Pardon FSU2 def Bowden/Dugan GCU2 21-13, 21-15

 

Gold winners Round 2

Hill/Fredrick PEP1 def Guitare/Alvidrez CSUB2 21-10, 23-21

Robinson/Strange NEB1 def Johannsen/Phelps GCU1 21-14, 21-9

Racich/Dykstra PEP2 def Araujo/Fu CSUB1 21-14, 13-21, 15-5

Milosavljevic/Pardon FSU2 def Davis/Yildrim FSU2 24-22, 21-12

 

Gold consolation round 1

 Thramer/Rolfzen NEB2 def Araujo/Fu CSUB1 21-12, 21-14

 Johannsen/Phelps GCU1 def Bowden/Dugan GCU2 21-12, 21-15

 

Silver bracket winners round 1

Woolever/Larsen PEP3 BYE

Haggerty/Zarda NEB4 def Bowen/Youngblood CSUB4 21-17, 21-15

Pelliteri/Pelliteri FSU5 def Ausmus/Hiller GCU3 21-13, 21-10

Broekhuis/Rolfzen NEB3 def Sawyer/Tucker CSUB5 21-11, 21-12

Fien/Ostrander NEB5 def Bartsch/O'Hagan 21-11, 22-20

Adelheim/Orozco PEP5 def Cook/T. Racich PEP4 21-19, 21-18

Kiley/Wickstrom FSU4 def Jenkins/Posse GCU4 21-8, 21-13

Pavels/Plessy FSU3 def Spackman/Spackman GCU5 21-9, 21-7

 

Schedule for Saturday

Gold Bracket winners 10 am

Pep1 v NEB1

PEP2 v FSU2

 

Gold contender 10 am

GCU1 v CSUB2

FSU1 v NEB2

 

Silver winners 11 am

PEP3 v NEB4

FSU5 v NEB3

NEB5 v PEP5

FSU4 v FSU3

Silver consolation

10 am GCU3 v CSUB5

11 am CSUB3 v PEP4

11 am GCU4 v GCU5

 

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