The South Carolina beach volleyball team lost, 3-2, to Arizona in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on April 24 in Tucson, Arizona.
The match was closely contested, with both teams trading wins across five courts. The result ends South Carolina’s run in the tournament after a competitive showing against their opponent.
South Carolina began strong with Juju Quintero and Julia Waugh securing a win on court four by scores of 21-19 and 21-13. Although Arizona responded with a victory on court one, Evie Ziffer and Lauren Lawson put South Carolina ahead again after winning their match. The Wildcats then tied the overall score at two by defeating Brooke Balue and Rachel Hartmann. The deciding point came down to Morgan Downs and Amelia Taft on court five. After splitting the first two sets—Arizona taking the first set and South Carolina rallying for a tight second set win—the final frame saw both teams trade points before Arizona pulled ahead late to secure both the set and overall match.
Match results included Regan Holmer and Carlie Cisneros from Arizona defeating Jolie Cranford and Peyton Yamagata from South Carolina (21-17, 21-19), while Ashlyn Zilliken and Madeline Walker (UA) bested Balue/Hartmann (21-19, 21-18). Ziffer/Lawson (SC) defeated Meghan O’Meara/Adri Nieves Papaleo (UA) (21-19, 21-13), Quintero/Waugh (SC) beat Sophia Winter/Jamie Streit (UA) (21-15, 21-16), while Sadie Moore/Brooke Boyko (UA) clinched the decisive point over Downs/Taft (22-20, 26-28, 15-11).
With this result, South Carolina concludes its participation in this year’s Big 12 Tournament.
