Breaking down NCAA beach volleyball: Top-heavy field led by USC, TCU, UCLA, LMU, FSU, LSU

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There is no doubt that NCAA beach volleyball is top heavy this season.

The National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship will begin Wednesday in Gulf Shores, Alabama, with eight first-round matches, and the teams seed 1 through 6 have a combined 37 losses among them, almost exclusively to each other.

The first match Wednesday and the last one will most likely be the best of the round of 16 — No. 8 seed Florida Atlantic plays No. 9 Stanford, and then No. 7 Grand Canyon plays No. 10 Georgia State. But No. 4 Loyola Marymount vs. No. 13 Hawai’i also could have some drama — they split their two matches this season, both by 3-2 scores.

Wednesday’s schedule (starting at 9 a.m. Central, on the hour)

No. 8 FAU (22-10) vs. No. 9 Stanford (24-11)
No. 6 LSU (30-10) vs. No. 11 Cal (26-13)
No. 4 Loyola Marymount (29-7) vs. No. 13 Hawai’i (24-16)
No. 1 USC (32-1) vs. No. 16 UT Martin (17-8)
No. 2 TCU (38-3) vs. No. 15 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (21-12)
No. 3 UCLA (31-7) vs. No. 14 Stetson (23-16)
No. 5 Florida State (28-9) vs. No. 12 Cal Poly (23-16)
No. 7 Grand Canyon (26-6) vs. No. 10 Georgia State (26-11)

The NCAA field was expanded this year from eight teams to 16. After Wednesday, the eight losers are out. The tournament will resume Friday with the same eight-team, double-elimination format used as in previous years. The championship will be Sunday. The bracket is below.

Since the event became an NCAA championship six years ago, only USC and UCLA have taken home the trophy. 

USC won in 2016 and 2017 with a loaded roster that included future Olympian Kelly Claes and partner Sara Hughes, who went 147-4 during their careers. 

UCLA won in 2018 and 2019 with a team that included Claes’ partner in Tokyo last summer, Sarah Sponcil. 

The 2020 tournament was canceled, but USC won it all last May with a team that included Latvian Olympian Tina Graudina. Graudina finished fourth in Tokyo with partner Anastasija Kravcenoka, and she’s 25-1 this season on court 1 with Hailey Harward.

About those top six teams and their respective defeats

— USC’s only loss was in its first dual of the season, to UCLA on March 5.

— TCU won its first 28 matches before losing to USC on April 3. Since then, the Horned Frogs have lost twice to Florida State, including Saturday in the CCSA championship match.

— UCLA has lost twice to TCU, four times to USC since that season opener and to LMU. 

— LMU lost 3-2 twice to LSU, to TCU, Hawai’i, USC, UCLA and  to end the regular season to Long Beach State, which did not make the field.

— FSU has lost to three times to TCU, twice to USC, twice to UCLA and once each to LMU and Pepperdine (which did not get a bid).

— And LSU, which could well be the X factor in the tournament, was 15-0 when it lost 3-2 to FAU on March 20. Since then, LSU has lost four times to FSU (once 3-2), twice to UCLA (once 3-2), twice to TCU (once 3-2) and to USC.

The matchups

No. 8 FAU (22-10) vs. No. 9 Stanford (24-11)
FAU got an at-large bid from the East region and made the tournament for the first time. The Sandy Owls lost in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals to FIU, which did not get a bid. FIU lost to Georgia State in the title match. FAU’s No. 1 pair of Erica Brok and Mackenzie Morris is 24-6, and No. 2 Courtney Moon and Marketa Svozilova are 19-7.

Stanford, which got one of the four final at-large bids, finished the Pac-12 Tournament with losses to UCLA and Cal but still has the most wins in program history and will make its second NCAA appearance. The Cardinal is led by No. 1 pair Xolani Hodel and Kate Reilly and No. 2 Maddi Kriz and Charlie Ekstrom.

No. 6 LSU (30-10) vs. No. 11 Cal (26-13)
LSU was one of the final four at-large teams. The Tigers have been so close this season, as evidenced by their many 3-2 losses, but only once have they broken through and beaten one of the five teams seeded above them. That was on March 6 at home, 3-2 against LMU. Last year, the Tigers were a lock at No. 1 with Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth. This year, they have a much different look. Bella Bauman and Parker Bracken play No. 1, and two tall graduate-transfers figure strongly into the mix, with 6-4 Kylie Deberg teaming with Kellie Greene-Agnew at No. 2 and 6-7 Holly Carlton with Reilly Allred at No. 3.

Cal was also one of the four at-large teams and is in the field for the first time, boasting a program record for victories. Cal’s No. 1 pair is Ana Costa and Maya Gessner, and No. 2 is Ashley Delgado and Ainsley Radell.

No. 4 Loyola Marymount (29-7) vs. No. 13 Hawai’i (24-16)
The Lions lost their last regular-season match at Long Beach State, then cruised through the West Coast Conference Championship to win that league’s automatic bid. We featured the LMU coaching staff last week.

LMU is led by its No. 1 pair of Reka Orsi Toth and Megan Rice and No. 2 tandem of Avery Poppinga and Marine Kinna. 

Hawai’i of the Big West and LMU split the two matches they played this season, both in Honolulu. Hawai’i won 3-2 on April 9, and LMU won 3-2 the next day.

Hawai’i, one of the four at-larges, won its Big West Championship opener by beating UC Davis, but then lost 3-2 to Cal Poly. The Sandbows bounced back by beating Long Beach 3-2 (clinching at No. 3 with a 16-14 win in the third set), but then lost to Cal Poly again, this time 3-2 in the title match. UH, in the NCAA field for the sixth time, relies strongly on the No. 1 pair of Kaylee Glagau and Brooke Van Sickle. The No. 2 pair is Kylin Loker and Jaime Santer, and at No. 3 are Sarah Penner and Megan Widener.

No. 1 USC (32-1) vs. No. 16 UT Martin (17-8)
In February, Travis Mewhirter wrote on this site that USC had “perhaps the greatest embarrassment of riches NCAA beach volleyball has ever seen.” That might have been a bit much, but since that opening loss to UCLA, the Trojans have won 32 in a row, going the distance only twice when they beat LMU and then in the last match of the regular season when they beat UCLA. In the Pac-12 Tourney, they beat Oregon 3-0, Arizona 3-0, UCLA 3-1 and then UCLA again 3-0.

The lineup is unparalleled: Graudina and Harward, Megan Kraft and Sammy Slater, Delaynie Maple and Julia Scoles (who will be featured here this week), twins Audrey and Nicole Nourse, and Sunny Villapando and Mollie Ebertin.

UT Martin won the Ohio Valley Conference title and an automatic bid. The Skyhawks are the first OVC team to make the NCAA field

No. 2 TCU (38-3) vs. No. 15 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (21-12)
In that same aforementioned NCAA preview, Mewhirter noted that TCU is no longer surprising anyone. Especially not after adding transfers and foreign impact players to a team that made its first NCAA appearance last spring.

Last year in Gulf Shores, TCU was two and barbecue, losing to UCLA and LSU. But this is a different team that obviously needs to stay away from Florida State (which is on the other side of the bracket). 

TCU got one of the two East region at-large bids. Ana Vergara was named CCSA Freshman of the Year, and Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno were named CCSA Pair of the Year. Alvarez and Moreno are 23-5 at No. 1, Hailey Brockett and Alexis Fillipone are 15-3 at No. 3, and Maria Gonzalez and Vergara are 25-4 at No. 4.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi won the Southland Conference’s automatic bid. The Islanders lost twice to TCU this season, 5-0 and 4-1.

No. 3 UCLA (31-7) vs. No. 14 Stetson (23-16)
No one, save USC, would be surprised if UCLA won the tournament. The Bruins won it all in 2018 and 2019 and lost to USC in last spring’s final 3-1. 

Lexi Denaburg and Abby Van Winkle are 23-8 at No. 1. UCLA has Devon Newberry and Jaden Whitmarsh at No. 2 and Jessie Smith and Lea Monkhouse at No. 3. Natalie Myszkowski and Sophie Moore, who played No. 5 in the Pac-12 Tournament, are 22-5 at No. 4 and 3-0 at No. 5.

Stetson won the ASUN title for the sixth time and the bid that goes with it. The Hatters are in the tournament for the second time. Carolina Ferraris and Anete Namike are 26-6 at No. 2.

No. 5 Florida State (28-9) vs. No. 12 Cal Poly (23-16)
The Seminoles, who are always in the mix, got waxed two weeks ago by USC, but in the CCSA tournament, they swept LSU, lost 3-2 to TCU, beat LSU again 4-1, and then beat TCU 3-1 for the title and the automatic bid. 

Florida State is the only program to appear in every national championship event, starting with the AVCA Championship in 2012 and when it became an NCAA event in 2016. FSU lost in the title match in 2014, 2016, and 2018.

Maddie Anderson and Brooke Bauer are 25-9 at No. 1, and Alaina Chacon and Madison Fitzpatrick are 15-6 at No. 2 (where they are now) and 10-1 at No. 3. Alaina’s sister, Morgan, plays No. 4. We featured the Chacon sisters last fall.

Tia Miric and Ella Connor are 26-12, the second most wins in a Cal Poly season. The No. 3 pair of Addison Hermstad and Peyton Dueck are 19-4 at No. 3.

Cal Poly is 0-7 all-time against FSU, but that includes losing 3-2 two weeks ago when it came down to Miric and Connor beating Anderson and Bauer 21-15, 19-21, 15-13 at No. 1.

No. 7 GCU (26-6) vs. No. 10 Georgia State (26-11)
Grand Canyon, making its first NCAA appearance after getting the other West at-large, is the only independent in the field. GCU set the program record for victories. One of those wins was over Georgia State, a 4-1 victory in Gulf Shores in March. The Lopes have won nine in a row, including beating Cal, Saint Mary’s, Washington and Stanford last weekend at the Stanford Invitational. Jess Vastine and Anaya Evans play No. 1, Allison Hansen and Allanis Navis play No. 2, and Teagan DeFalco and Samaya Morin are at No. 3.

Georgia State won the inaugural Conference USA Championship and the NCAA bid that goes with it. The Panthers knocked out FIU in the title match and tied the school record with their 26th victory. Georgia State, back in the field for the first time since 2016, is led by Kayla Whetstone and Yasmin Kuck, twin sisters Angel and Bella Ferary and Chloee Kleepsies and Becky Tresham.

Sunny and breezy

According to the Weather Channel, the forecast is about as good as you can get this time of year on the Redneck Riviera. The temperature is not expected to get above 82 the entire tournament. It will be — as is the case in Gulf Shores — moderately windy, with rain forecast only Friday in the form of scattered thunderstorms.

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