HONOLULU – The Arizona beach volleyball team continued to show they can compete with the best teams in the country on Saturday, but came up just short against No. 8 Hawaii and No. 14 Georgia State on the campus of the University of Hawaii.
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The Wildcats (18-8) lost to GSU, 4-1, in the morning and then dropped nip-and-tuck 3-2 match in the afternoon to UH.
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Grace Cook and
Alana Rennie picked up the lone win for UA against Georgia State, winning 21-19 and 21-15 at No. 3.
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Against Hawaii, Arizona jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind wins from
Dilara Gedikoglu and
Kali Uhl at No. 4 and
Miranda Erro and
Annie Kost at No. 5. After dropping narrow decisions at No. 2 and No. 3, it all came down to the No. 1 pairs for both schools. Arizona's
Sarah Blacker and
Alex Parkhurst won the first set, 21-18 and the dropped set two, 21-19, to force a decisive third set. In that set, the pair from Hawaii got in a rhythm and won, 15-6.
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Arizona is back in action at the Ching Complex on Sunday when they take on the same two teams again starting with Georgia State at 5:30 p.m. (PT) and followed by Hawaii at 9:30 p.m. (PT). The match against Hawaii will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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#14 Georgia State 4, #20 Arizona 1
(Ching Complex) – Honolulu, HI
1. Angel Ferary/Bella Ferary (GSU) def.
Sarah Blacker/
Alex Parkhurst (ARIZ) 21-15, 21-18
2. Lila Bordis/Yasmin Kuck (GSU) def.
Hope Shannon/
Abby Russell (ARIZ) 13-21, 21-17, 15-12
3.
Grace Cook/
Alana Rennie (ARIZ) def. Kelly Dorn/Elise Saga (GSU) 21-19, 21-15
4. Maddy Delmonte/Ayla Johnson (GSU) def.
Dilara Gedikoglu/
Kali Uhl (ARIZ) 22-20, 21-19
5. Aliisa Vuorinen/Destiny White (GSU) def.
Annie Kost/
Miranda Erro (ARIZ) 21-19, 21-11
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Match Notes:
Arizona 18-7; National ranking #20
Georgia State 16-13; National ranking #14
Order of finish: Doubles (5,4,3,2,1);
#8 Hawai'i 3, #20 Arizona 2
(Ching Complex) – Honolulu, HI
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1. Kaylee Glagau/Brooke Van Sickle (UH) def.
Sarah Blacker/
Alex Parkhurst (ARIZ) 18-21, 21-19, 15-6
2. Kylin Loker/Riley Wagoner (UH) def.
Abby Russell/
Hope Shannon (ARIZ) 22-20, 21-16
3. Ilihia Huddleston/Jaime Santer (UH) def.
Grace Cook/
Alana Rennie (ARIZ) 21-17, 18-21, 15-8
4.
Dilara Gedikoglu/
Kali Uhl (ARIZ) def. Anna Maidment/Sofia Russo (UH) 21-18, 21-13
5.
Miranda Erro/
Annie Kost (ARIZ) def. Chandler Cowell/Sydney Miller (UH) 21-19, 21-13
Match Notes:
Arizona 18-8; National ranking #20
Hawai'i 23-6; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (5,4,2,3,1);
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