About Participating Tourney Teams…
About Participating Tourney Teams…
USC: The four-time defending NCAA champion Women of Troy beat first round opponent Atlantic Sun champion North Florida 5-0 in this year’s Best in the West Tourney in Laguna Beach. USC also won when the teams played in the 2013 AVCA championship, USC’s first-ever postseason tournament appearance. USC won their first national title in 2015 anda went 28-0 to capture the final AVCA collegiate beach championship in Gulf Shores. Including duals played as part of the AVCA championships (2013-15), USC is 38-8 all-time on Gulf Shores sand. The Trojans are 31-4 in duals at the NCAA championship. USC lost twice each in 2018 and 2019 when the tournament was a double-elimination bracket. Its second loss in 2019 was to the eventual champion UCLA in the championship dual. Under sixth-year head coach Dain Blanton, USC is 17-0 in the NCAA tourney. Last year, the Trojans went 4-0 and were 12-0 in individual matches to capture their fourth straight national championship.
The Trojans finished as the runner-up to Stanford in the inaugural MPSF championship last week. USC collected wins over No. 19 Washington, No. 9 California, and No. 1 UCLA in the process. They lost 3-2 to Stanford in the championship dual.
UCLA: The top seeded Bruins are two time national champions and have lost in the finals the past three years. They have an overall record of 26-11 (.703) in NCAA Tournament play.
Chattanooga:. The Ohio Valley Conference champion Sandy Mocs are led by Neva Clark, who was named the OVC Beach Volleyball Player of the Year for the third consecutive year. The Mocs’ Corina Vale teamed with Clark to earn pair of the year honors. Clark, a senior from Woodstock, Ga., went 22-6 overall.
Florida State: The Seminoles swept LSU, but lost to Texas, 3-0 (all three-set matches), in the CCSA Championship Tourney. The Noles won seven straight conference titles from 2016-2022, and their eighth in 2024.
Head Coach Brooke Niles, now in her 10th season, holds a 286-71 career record and stands as the winningest coach in NCAA beach volleyball history.
Stanford: Stanford captured its first-ever conference title, edging USC 3-2 in the MPSF Championship match to win the league’s inaugural tournament at Spiker Beach in Huntington Beach. Now 31-8 on the season, the Cardinal is just one win shy of tying the program’s single-season victory record. The Cardinal defeated 18 ranked opponents, 11 of them in the top 10 this season.
TCU: After winning the inaugural Big 12 Beach Championship, the second seeded Frogs (28-5) must get past Georgia State (22-16) to set up a quarterfinal match against either No. 10 Cal or its in-state rival, No. 7 Texas. This is the third time in its five tourney appearances, that TCU has earned the no. 2 seed.
North Florida: The Ospreys captured its sixth overall and second-straight Atlantic Sun Championships title to qualify for the tourney for the second consecutive year. UNF defeated Stetson 3-0 in the ASUN championship match after surviving a 3-2 semifinal over No. 3 Florida Gulf Coast.
Florida Atlantic: The Sandy Owls beat UAB and Tulane twice to secure the CUSA Championship. They are led by Ashleigh Adams, who set a school single-season individual win record.
Long Beach State: The Dirt Bags will have the coolest team name at the tourney for the third consecutive year after winning the Big West title with a win against top seed Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The Beach went 27-11 during the regular season.
Georgia State: The Sandy Panthers defeated UNC Wilmington, 3-1, en-route to winning a third consecutive Sun Belt Conference title. This marks the 6th national championship appearance in program history, fourth consecutively.
LSU: The last time LSU faced its first round opponent, Cal Poly was Feb. 23, 2019, and the they came out on top with a 3-2 win. LSU has made it to Gulf Shores every season since 2017 and is always the best-represented participant in Gulf Shores, with fans all over the region. The Sandy Tigers will enter the NCAA Championship with a 24-12 record.
Texas: First round opponent Cal was one of only two teams to beat the Longhorns at home this season. The Longhorns are also one of two teams (Boise State) making their first appearance in the tourney to win the CCSA Tournament in their first season in the conference. The Stein Metzger coached team went 27-9 record in just its second sanctioned season as a team.
Cal: The Golden Bears are going dancing for the fourth straight year after earning an at large NCAA Championship berth following a 27-9 season. They split the season series with first round opponent, handing Texas its first home loss of the season in walk-off fashion 3-2.
Boise State: The Broncos (23-11) claimed the Southland Conference crown by defeating three-time defending champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3-0 in the championship dual. The Broncos are one of two programs (Texas) that will be making their debut in Gulf Shores. Allison Voigt was named the SLC Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. The Broncos extended the program’s home-winning streak to 20 contests, a streak that dates back to the 2021 season.
LMU: The Lions won the West Coast Conference Tournament Championship for the sixth consecutive season and will represent the WCC in Gulf Shores for the fifth consecutive time. Coach John Mayer is the first coach in school history to lead the Lions to six consecutive conference championships in any sport.
Cal Poly: With a no. 5 ranking and 29-6 record, the Mustangs were an easy choice for an at-large ticket to Gulf Shores. This will be Cal Poly’s fifth trip to Gulf Shores and the highest they’ve ever been seeded. They advanced to the semifinals in Gulf Shores last spring.