MALIBU, Calif. – The Vanguard Beach Volleyball program traveled north of Los Angeles to the Pepperdine Beach Volleyball Courts for two duals. For the first time in program history, they competed against Pepperdine University (4-12) while they faced Loyola Marymount University (16-2) for the second of three times this year.
What Happened? Hally Herder (SO/Highlands Ranch, CO) and Allyson Scharrer (FR/Newport Beach, CA) played as pair four and they were the first flight to go final with 21-,21-8 scores. The duo of Kayla Tinker (SR/San Clemente, CA) and Carly McKinney (SR/Mission Viejo, CA) played on Court Two and lost 21-13,21-18. Pepperdine secured the dual victory in pair five, Kenzie Bouse (SR/Willard, MO) and Mackenzie Mitchell (SR/Costa Mesa, CA), by 21-15,21-5 scores. Sydney Irwin (SO/Moorpark, CA) and Vashti Elias Romero (SO/Redlands, CA) were the fourth pair to go final with 21-14,21-5 counts. Top pairing Conley Harris (JR/Brea, CA) and Natalie Escher (JR/Redlands, CA) fell 21-14,18-10.
In the second dual of the day, Herder and Sharrer fell 21-11,21-12 to Darby Dunn and Sydnie Herrmann. Tinker and McKinney fought hard but ultimately fell to Savannah Slatery and Jessie Prichard by 21-11,21-15 margins. LMU secured the victory on Court Five as Piper Manross and Emma Doud won 21-11,21-14. The team of Irwin and Romero lost 21-9,21-14 to Michaela Rezentes and Gerorgie Fusco. Lastly, Harris and Escher were defeated 21-13,21-14.
Why It's Important? This marks the second time this season, that the Lions have left NAIA competition to pay against top ranked NCAA Division I programs. They battled against the seventh rated Waves of Pepperdine before taking on the sixth ranked Lions of Loyola Marymount. Vanguard is undefeated in NAIA competition this season and is the only GSAC school who played any games against NCAA Division I opponents this season.
What They Said: Head Coach Kris Dorn - "Today was a great day seeing how what we've practiced comes into play against more experienced teams; We showed aggression and made smart adjustments."
What's Next: Friday, April 2nd at Cal State University - Northridge at 11:00 a.m. and against Loyola Marymount University at 1:00 p.m.
