TEMPE, Ariz.—The Arizona State beach volleyball team (2-2) travels to the state of California for the first time this season for matches against Loyola Marymount (1-2), USC (3-1), and Long Beach State (0-4) on Thursday and Friday.
The matches against the Lions and Trojans are set for Thursday at 4 p.m. PT/5 p.m. MT and 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT, respectively, at USC’s Merle Norman Stadium. On Friday, ASU will take on Long Beach at 1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT at the LBSU Sand Courts.
ABOUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
The Lions went 1-2 during the opening weekend of the season, falling 3-2 to California before defeating Cal Poly, 4-1. LMU capped the weekend in Tucson with a 5-0 loss to Arizona.
ABOUT USC
The Trojans posted a 3-1 record during the opening weekend of the season, with a 4-1 win over Hawaii, a 3-2 loss to Pepperdine, a 5-0 win over Pac-12 rival UCLA, and a 3-2 win over Long Beach State.
ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE
The 49ers dropped the first four matches of the season, competing at Pepperdine’s home courts in Zuma Beach, Calif. Long Beach fell to Pepperdine, 5-0, before dropping a 3-2 match to UCLA. On the final day of competition, the 49ers fell to Hawaii, 4-1, and USC, 3-2.
Prior to Friday’s match against the Sun Devils, Long Beach State will host Florida State on Wednesday.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils travel to Albuquerque, N.M., next week for the New Mexico Spring Beach Volleyball Tournament, on March 18-19. On Friday, ASU will face a rematch with Colorado Mesa at 4 p.m., and on Saturday the Sun Devils take on New Mexico State at Noon before facing a rematch with New Mexico at 2 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
The Sun Devils opened the season by hosting the Sun Devil Challenge at the PERA Club, and went 2-2, including an upset over then No. 17 South Carolina.
On the final day of the tournament, ASU posted a 5-0 victory over Colorado Mesa before upsetting the Gamecocks, 4-1. On the opening day, ASU dropped a close, 3-2 match to New Mexico before falling, 5-0, to Florida State.
At the No. 1 position, Bianca Arellano and Whitney Follette led the Sun Devils with a 3-1 record for the weekend, including the upset-clinching win over South Carolina in three sets.
At No. 3, Madison Berridge and Bethany Wedepohl teamed up to take down South Carolina’s pairing, also in three sets, 22-20, 22-24, 15-12, while Jourdan Parnell and Mia Rivera also earned a three-set win at No. 4, 14-21, 21-11, 15-9. At the No. 5 position, Frances Giedraitis and Kylie Pickrell picked up the straight-set victory, 21-17, 21-18.
ABOUT BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Sand volleyball is contested with five pairings in the best of three sets, which are played to 21 points. The tiebreaker third set is played to 15.
The team win goes to the squad that secures three of the five wins throughout the match.
THE PERA CLUB
PERA, which stands for Project Employees Recreation Association is a private club for the employees and families of the Salt River Project, located at 1 E. Continental Drive.
The 83-acre club houses a social center, employee store, fitness center, swimming pool, game courts, and fields and offers children's programs, fitness classes, business meetings, sports leagues, and parties.