STANFORD — The Sacramento State beach volleyball team opened the 2018 season with a pair of losses at the Bay Area Kickoff hosted by Stanford. The Hornets, who will play four matches over two days, lost by 5-0 scores to both Pacific and Saint Mary's.
The Hornets (0-2) will close the tournament with a pair of morning matches tomorrow against Santa Clara at 9 a.m., and 16th-ranked Stanford at 11:30 a.m.
Sacramento State used the same doubles teams at the Nos. 1-4 positions in the lineup in both matches, consisting of Kennedy Kurtz/Brie Gathright at No. 1, Mikaela Nocetti/Sarah Davis (No. 2), Lana Brown/Hannah Meadows (No. 3) and Sarah Falk/Skyler Takeda (No. 4). In the matchup against Pacific (1-2), the Hornets used the team of Macey Hayden/Brigitte Murdock at No. 5, and against Saint Mary's (3-1), used the combination of Murdock and Ashtin Olin at No. 5.
Falk and Olin are both true freshmen, and made their first appearances in a collegiate match for Sacramento State. Nocetti had played just one beach match over the previous two years before playing in the No. 2 spot today.
Scores for both Hornet matches can be found below
Pacific 5, Sacramento State 0
Doubles competition
1. Skylar Wine/Maycie LaBass (PAC) def. Kennedy Kurtz/Brie Gathright (SAC) 21-15, 21-16
2. Roni Long/Taylor Poncetta (PAC) def. Mikaela Nocetti/Sarah Davis (SAC) 21-17, 21-18
3. Alex Holt/Katrin Gotterba (PAC) def. Lana Brown/Hannah Meadows (SAC) 22-20, 21-17
4. Ashlyn Fleming/Hanne De Schrijver (PAC) def. Sarah Falk/Skyler Takeda (SAC) 21-19, 13-21, 15-12
5. Kaitlyn Lines/Olivia Petnicki (PAC) def. Macey Hayden/Brigitte Murdock (SAC) 21-13, 21-15
Saint Mary's 5, Sacramento State 0
Doubles competition
1. Emily Bible/Lindsey Knudsen (SMC) def. Kennedy Kurtz/Brie Gathright (SAC) 21-19, 21-11
2. Payton Rund/Morgan Hughes (SMC) def. Mikaela Nocetti/Sarah Davis (SAC) 21-17, 21-14
3. Sarah Chase/Mary Hernandez (SMC) def. Lana Brown/Hannah Meadows (SAC) 21-12, 21-19
4. Sienna Young/Madi Wilkerson (SMC) def. Sarah Falk/Skyler Takeda (SAC) 21-11, 22-20
5. Jennifer Laird/Morgan Kendrick (SMC) def. Brigitte Murdock/Ashtin Olin (SAC) 19-21, 21-12, 15-9
