Big changes for the May 5-7 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship

Big changes for the May 5-7 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship
16 schools will play single elimination matches at Gulf Shores Public Beach
By Fran Thompson
There will be a monumental change in format when the National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship returns to Gulf Shores Public Beach for the seventh time May 5-7.
Last May, the Beach Volleyball Championship was played with a 16-team field for the first time. Eight single-elimination, first-round duels were played on the first day of the four-day event. The remaining eight teams then played the traditional double-elimination format over the final three days, with USC claiming its third national championship in a hotly contested final against another perennial power, Florida State.
After reviewing the 2022 championship and receiving feedback from the student-athletes and coaches, the NCAA Women’s Beach Volleyball Committee recommended the 16-team, single-elimination format.
While the format is a departure from what has traditionally been conducted at the championship, it places it in line with most NCAA championships.
Also, in 2023, the NCAA Women’s Beach Volleyball Committee will select teams on a national basis rather than be required to select a certain number of teams from each geographic region.
With the bracket expansion and the addition of automatic qualifiers, the committee determined that a national selection process should be implemented.
According to the NCAA website, an opening match will be played on Wednesday, May 3 at 4 p.m.
Following a practice day on Thursday, eight dual matches will be played on Friday, May 5 from 10 a.m. thru 4 p.m. The dual matches are scheduled one hour apart.
The four quarterfinal matches are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, with the semifinal matches scheduled that afternoon at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The championship match will be played at 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 7.
TCU should go into the tourney as the top seed, as the Horned Frogs remained unbeaten (28-0) as of April 11. The other top ten teams in the AVCA Beach Coaches Poll included second ranked USC, UCLA, Florida State and LSU.
Loyola Marymount was ranked sixth, Grand Canyon seventh, and Hawaii, California and Stanford completed the top 10.
The 10-20 ranked teams in order were: Long Beach State, Florida International, Washington, Georgia State, Florid Atlantic, South Carolina, Tulane, Stetson, Pepperdine and Arizona.
ESPN will again broadcast the entire tourney, and tickets are available at eventbrite.net.
• Weekend Passes (May 5-7) – NCAA Fan Experience All-Session: $250; Courtside Seating All-Session: $85; General Admission All-Session: $55.
• Day Passes (May 5-7) – Courtside Seating: $35; General Admission: $25.
• Opening Round Day Passes (May 3) – Courtside Seating: $15; General Admission: $15.
USC won the first two national championships played in Gulf Shores. UCLA followed with two titles and USC returned to form with titles in 2021 and 2022. The 2020 tourney was cancelled due to Covid-19.
Additionally, the Gulf Coast Region “BeachFest” National Beach Tour Qualifier will take place May 5-7 adjacent to the NCAA site and feature more than 375 elite junior beach teams.
Gulf Shores will also host the tourney in 2024. It then moves to Huntington Beach in California for two years. Gulf Shores will surely put in a bid to host the tourney for as long as possible beginning in 2027.
Beach Volleyball is the fastest-growing sport in the NCAA with nearly 180 participating institutions across all levels of the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA, including 67 NCAA Division I institutions. Conferences that currently sponsor Beach Volleyball include: Atlantic Sun Conference, Big West Conference, Conference USA, Ohio Valley Conference, Pac-12, Southland Conference and West Coast Conference. Of the 176 institutions that sponsor beach volleyball, 55 of them are located in the South.
Pictured: Paige Flickinger of LSU goes all-out during a recent loss to Stanford in Baton Rouge.