The ASU beach volleyball team (7-7) was put to the test Saturday afternoon in Honolulu as they were pitted against two of the top five teams in the country.
The Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii played host to the event. The No. 4 team in the country, boasting a record of 11-6, didn't disappoint as they took on the Lady Devils in their first match up. Hawaii came out firing, the team of Nikki Taylor (junior) and Lara Schreiber (sophomore) taking down ASU No. 1's, seniors Bianca Arellano and Whitney Follette in straight sets, 21-18, 21-13.
That set the tone early for the Warriors, as they proceeded to take the next match 21-12, 21-12 over redshirt sophomore Kwyn Johnson and sophomore Sydney Palmer.
The home squad kept the momentum with a third-round victory as junior Hannah Rooks and sophomore Ka’iwi Schucht beat the Sun Devil team consisting of freshman Bethany Wedepohl and junior Madison Berridge with scores of 21-14 and 21-15.
Perhaps the closest chance ASU had to winning a set came from the junior-freshman tandem of Mia Rivera and Jourdan Parnell. Although the pair began a late comeback, they were unable to conquer that elusive set point, falling 21-18, 21-19.
With the fifth match, UH's Ginger Long (senior) and Mikayla Tucker (junior) won 21-15, 21-10 over freshman Natalie Braun and sophomore Frances Giedraitis.
ASU was still in pursuit of their first match point.
Their luck faired no better against Pac-12 rival UCLA. The No. 5 team in the country gave ASU all they could handle, winning all five matches to leave the Sun Devils winless for the day.
The Sun Devils have a week to rest before heading off to Palo Alto, California to take part in the Stanford tournament where they will take on a plethora of Pac-12 schools including Oregon, Stanford, and California-Berkeley as well as Mountain West competitor, Boise State.
The tournament kicks off Saturday, April 9th.
Reach the reporter at Braxton.Fox@asu.edu or follow @braxton_fox_II on Twitter.
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