On a perfect day at Ocean Park Beach, the LMU Lions women’s beach volleyball team defeated the Santa Clara Broncos in dominant fashion, 5–0, in the WCC Tournament. The five pairs Chloe Hooker/Valma Prihti, Michelle Schaffer/Anna Pelloia, Abbey Thorup/Lisa Luini, Magdalena Rabitsch/Isabelle Reffel and Tanon Rosenthal/Giuliana Poletti all won their collective sets for a cohesive team win.
Assistant coach Cesar Benatti weighed in during the pregame on how he expected the team to perform, he said, “We’re expecting a good game. We’ve been preparing and training really, really hard. Pretty dialed in, we've been pretty consistent the whole season. So we expect to just be consistent again today.”
During the fives matchup, Rosenthal and Poletti’s determination was evident from the start. In the first set, Poletti started off the match with a crafty spike and Rosenthal made an impact strike of her own.
Then, there was a slight momentum shift that went Santa Clara’s way. Soon after, a powerful spike by Rosenthal led to a point for LMU. Next, a rally went LMU’s way. To counter, the Broncos were able to get a rally going of their own. Next, LMU was able to gain a point as the Broncos hit the sand trying to keep the rally alive.
Efficient play by LMU led to a point in the middle of the set. Then, a creative left hand shot by Rosenthal secured a point for LMU. The Broncos’ pair of Ava Stoddard and Callie Loughran was showing great teamwork as well, with a volley followed by a spike for a point. Overall, in the first set, LMU was too prepared and sound for Santa Clara. The Lions won the first set, 21–17.
Coach Benatti assessed how his fives were going to perform pregame: “Great, they’re one of our best teams, best record among our teams. So, I'm expecting for them to be good again.”
To start the second set, LMU ran a “50 back set” to gain a point. Meanwhile, Santa Clara was showing some fight trying to dig back into this set. Rosenthal was able to score off of a “1.” These strategic plays showed LMU’s preparation. Rosenthal added a left-hand spike – showing all the tools in her arsenal. LMU was looking a little fatigued but their discipline carried them through for this victory. The Lions closed out the second set, 21–18, to secure the victory.
Rosenthal was having fun out there in the sand, she said, “It was fun to be out here with Giuli and just reppin’ our team, supporting everyone else. It was fun to play out here.” In terms of the chemistry with her partner, she said, “That’s something that we focus on as a team. Before every match we set our values and what we want to stand for so I thought we did a good job of living those today.”
Darryl Harvey, SMDP Intern