TEMPE, Ariz.—The Arizona State beach volleyball team (11-11) travels to Los Angeles this weekend to compete at the inaugural Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championships, Thursday through Sunday at USC’s Merle Norman Stadium.
Live coverage of the matches will air on the Pac-12 Network from Friday to Sunday. Complete coverage info, including times and regions, is available on Pac-12.com.
The Sand Devils will compete in the pairs bracket on Thursday and Friday, and the team bracket from Friday to Sunday.
THE PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP
The pairs bracket will set the No. 1s and No. 2s from each of the Pac-12 schools against one another in single-elimination format on Thursday and Friday. The duos of Bianca Arellano and Whitney Follette, the No. 4 seed, and Kwyn Johnson and Natalie Braun, the No. 16 seed, will represent the Sand Devils this upcoming weekend.
Arellano and Follette will open against Cal’s No. 13 seeded Bryce Bark and Kory Lamet. The winner will take on the winner of the match between USC’s No. 5 seed Sophie Bukovec and Alexa Strange and Oregon’s No. 12 seed Liz Brenner and Kacy Nady.
Braun and Johnson will open against USC’s Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes, the No. 1 overall seed. The winner will face off against the winner of the match between Arizona’s No. 8 seed Jianna Bonomi and Kat Schulz and Stanford’s No. 9 seed Payton Chang and Hayley Hodson.
Both of ASU’s openers will start on Thursday at 1 p.m. PT, with the quarterfinals to follow at 4 p.m. PT. The semifinals are slated for a 10 a.m. PT start on Friday, with the finals to follow at 11 a.m. PT.
THE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
In Friday’s double-elimination championship, ASU drew the No. 5 seed, and will open against No. 4 California at 3 p.m. PT. The winner will take on the winner of the match between No. 1 seed USC and No. 8 seed Oregon on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.
The winner of the Winner’s Bracket will take on the winner of the Contender’s Bracket for the team title on Sunday at 4 p.m. PT.
2016 Pac-12 Championships Team Seeding
1. USC
2. UCLA
3. Arizona
4. California
5. Arizona State
6. Stanford
7. Washington
8. Oregon
LAST TIME OUT
The Sand Devils dropped their regular-season finale last week, falling in a 3-2 decision to Arizona. The No. 1s duo of Bianca Arellano and Whitney Follette bounced back from a set-one loss to hand McKenna Witt and Madison Witt their first loss of the season in three sets, 12-21, 22-20, 15-12.
For the second straight week, the No. 4s duo of Bethany Wedepohl and Jourdan Parnell defeated Mia Mason in straight sets, this time winning with scores of 21-16, 21-17.
SUN DEVIL BEACH VOLLEYBALL EARNS DOUBLE-DIGIT WINS FOR FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY
For the first time in the young history of the beach volleyball program, the Sun Devils posted double-digit wins with their 5-0 victory over San Diego State on Saturday, April 20. The win marked the 10th during the 2016 season.
ASU’s previous single-season record for wins, set in 2015, was seven.
FOLLETTE AND ARELLANO FIRST TO 30 CAREER WIN MARK
A junior on the beach, Whitney Follette has 35 wins in her two-and-change seasons with the Sand Devils, the most in the history of the young program. She earned her 30th as she and teammate Bianca Arellano defeated Oregon’s Liz Brenner and Kacey Nady.
Follette went on to win her 35th as she and Arellano defeated Arizona’s Madison Witt and McKenna Witt in the regular-season finale, handing the Wildcat duo their first loss of the season.
Arellano went on to become the second Sand Devil all-time to surpass 30 wins, earning hers as she and Follette defeated Boise State’s Maddy O’Donnel and Hannah Hubbard, 21-9, 21-11.
As a pair, Arellano and Follette lead ASU with 15 wins so far this season, also the most for a pair in the history of the program.
ASU’s Top-5 Individual Career Victories
1. Whitney Follette (2014-p) - 35
2. Bianca Arellano (2014-p) – 33
3. Macey Gardner (2014-15) – 20
4. Frances Giedraitis (2015-p) - 19
5. Bethany Jorgensen (2014-15) – 17
ABOUT BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Beach 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.