Ross and Racich of Pepperdine finish as runner-up at USC Tournament – Volleyball news
The pairing of Summer Ross and Caitlin Racich of Pepperdine lost the final match of USC Sand Volleyball Tournament, which concluded on Sunday, March 18.
The Pepperdine team was challenged by Florida State's Aurora Newgard and Brittany Tiegs on the final day. The FSU pair proved to be better and posted 2-1 (16-21, 21-16, 15-10) victory over the Pepperdine team. The USC Tournament was kicked off on Friday
and rounded off on Sunday.
Team of Newgard and Tiegs topped the rankings, while Ross and Racich settled for second place. Team Pepperdine will have another chance to climb up the top slot in the next campaign, which is set to begin on Wednesday, March 21 at the Long Beach State in
California.
In the first three rounds of the tournament, Pepperdine 1 (Ross/ Racich) performed amazingly well. They played three matches and clawed their way to the finals without losing a single set.
In the Round of Top 16, they took on Kendall Bateman and Sam Hirschman of USC. With great combination of attack and defence tactics, Ross/Racich totally dominated the scene. They claimed the opening set of the match with huge margin of 12 points (21-9).
The University of Southern California tandem gave a good competition to Pepperdine team in the second set but failed to outdo the opponents. Ross and Racich posted 21-17 in 2nd frame and closed the match in straight sets. Success in the Round of 16 enabled
the Pepperdine 1 to play at the quarterfinals.
The wining duo of Ross and Racich met compatriots Kelley Larsen and Stevi Robinson in the quarter-finals. Larsen and Robinson played under the tag of Pepperdine 3. Comparatively saying, the second match was tough for Ross and Racich. They found the opponents
quite active on the centre court. Larson and Robinson would quickly trade places and return the ball to Ross/ Racich. However, in the latter half of the set they lost momentum. Meanwhile, Ross and Racich cruised past to 21-18. With one set in hand, they played
confidently in the next frame and clinched 2-0 success by posting 21-13.
The splendid victory in the quarter-finals allowed Pepperdine 1 to enter the semis of USC Sand Volleyball Tournament. Once again, the duo spotted familiar faces on the other side of the net. Pepperdine 4, which consisted of Adelhelm and Woolever, came into
competition with Ross and Racich in the semi-final. The charged-up tandem continued with same intensity and did not take long to send Pepperdine 4 to a straight-set loss in the match. Adelhelm and Woolever scored only 14 points in the first set and dropped
second set by scoring only 16 points. Ross and Racich won the match and finally clawed their way to the finals.
Nevertheless, the duo was stopped in final showdown of the tournament. Aurora Newgard and Brittany Tiegs of FSU defeated them in the final match and took away the title trophy.
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