The Santa Clara University beach volleyball team finished its weekend in Honolulu on April 12, closing out the trip with a pair of losses against No. 16 Hawaii and Oregon at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
The matches were significant for Santa Clara, which faced strong competition from nationally ranked opponents as it nears the end of its season.
Against host No. 16 Hawaii, Santa Clara (16-13) was competitive but ultimately fell 5-0. Four out of five pairs pushed their Hawaiian counterparts in both sets before dropping their matches. The closest contest came at the fourth position, where Ciara Cantlen and Alexandra Urbina forced extra points in both sets before losing to Caprice Lorenzo and Kristen Serrano by scores of 26-24 and 24-22. Other close matchups included Kawena Chillingworth and Reilly Rose Gilliland at the fifth spot, who lost to Sophie Buschmann and Sarah Burton, while Teagan Wilson and Sammy Wood fell at the second position.
In their second match of the day against Oregon, Santa Clara narrowly lost by a score of 3-2. Cantlen and Urbina earned a point for Santa Clara after rallying from a first-set loss to defeat Hanna Bjornson and Sofia Taylor in three sets. Mandy Hansen and Noelle Niederman also contributed with a straight-set win over Daley McClellan and Elsa Snipes at the third spot. However, despite pushing several matches to deciding sets—including Wilson and Wood’s three-set effort—the Broncos could not secure enough wins for an overall victory.
The results highlight both the challenges faced by Santa Clara against top-tier programs as well as competitive performances that kept many individual contests close throughout the day.
As they return home following this challenging road trip, Santa Clara will look ahead to building on these experiences as they continue their season.
