NCAA National Beach Volleyball Championship May 3-6 at Gulf Shores Public Beach
NCAA National Beach Volleyball Championship May 3-6 at Gulf Shores Public Beach
Thanks to a collaborative local effort, the National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championships will be held at Gulf Shores Public Beach through 2022. The inaugural NCAA-sanctioned beach volleyball championship was held at Gulf Shores Public Beach in 2016. This year’s event will return to the beach May 3-6. Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Sports Commission, along with the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the City of Gulf Shores are the official hosts and driving force behind this unpredented leap into the national spotlight. The entire tourney will be broadcast live on the ESPN networks. There are 69 NCAA schools, supporting approximately 1,000 beach volleyball student-athletes across the country, eligible to compete for the national championship. On April 29, the tourney committee will select the top three teams from the East Region and the top three teams from the West Region, plus two at large teams to compete for the title at Gulf Shores Public Beach. The selection show will be broadcast live on ncaa.com. Those teams will travel to Gulf Shores to play in a double-elimination format with teams consisting of five pairs. The first and second rounds and the first round of the elimination bracket will be conducted on May 4, with winning teams advancing in the championship bracket and losing teams moving to the elimination bracket. On May 5, the second and third round of the elimination bracket will be conducted with winning teams advancing in the elimination bracket. These will be followed by the third round of the championship bracket with winning team advancing to the national championship and the losing team moving to the elimination bracket. On May 6, the final match of the elimination bracket will be conducted at 10 a.m., with winning team advancing to the national championship match at 1 p.m. ESPN will provide live whip-around coverage of every match throughout the tournament across the ESPN family of networks. Additionally, ESPN 3 will provide full coverage of every individual match from all five courts. “This is an amazing chain of events that have ended up with us being in the position to have a major NCAA national championship here for a long period of time,” Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said. “It is a signature event for showing off who we are and what we do.”
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Schedule
Brackets will be chosen and streamed live on NCAA.com on Sunday, April 29 at 6 p.m. The final schedule will also be posted then.
Thursday, May 3
11:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.- Box Office open
11:30 a.m.- Gates open to the public
12:15 – 1:15 p.m.- All Team Autograph Session
1 – 2:10 p.m.- Open Team Practice
2:15 – 3:25 p.m .- Open Team Practice
3:30 – 4:40 p.m. – Open Team Practice
3:30 – 4:40 p.m. – Open Team Practice
4:45 – 5:55 p.m. – Open Team Practice
4:45 – 5:55 p.m. – Open Team Practice
Friday, May 4
7 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Box Office open
8 a.m. – Gates open
9 a.m. – Match 1
10 a.m. (approx.) – Match 2
11 a .m. (approx.) – Match 3
Noon (approx.) – Match 4
1 p.m. (approx.) – Match 5
2 p.m. (approx.) – Match 6
3 p.m. (approx.) – Match 7
4 p.m. (approx.) – Match 8
Saturday, May 5
7 a.m. – Box Office open
Noon – Gates open
1 p.m. – Match 9
2:10 p.m. – Match 10
3 p.m. (approx.) – Match 11
4 p.m. (approx.) – Match 12
Sunday, May 6
7 a.m. – Box Office open
9 a.m. – Gates open
10 a.m. – Match 13
1 p.m. – Championship Match
Tickets
All tickets are available online through eventbrite at ncaa.com or at the gate.
NCAA Experience all-session passes are available for $200 and include the comfort of a covered, elevated platform looking directly onto the three championship courts, complimentary snacks, water and access to a full-service, cash bar. Reserved shaded, beachside seating is located just outside of the covered area for viewing the championship courts. Courtside seating on all courts is on a first come-first serve basis.
Courtside seating is $30 for day passes and $75 for a weekend pass. Admission to all matches played on either Friday, Saturday or Championship Sunday. Courtside Seating on any given court is based on availability and is first come, first served. Teared seating is availaable on courts 1-3 and chair beach chair seating on courts 4-5.
General admission day passes are $20 daily and $45 for the weekend. Tickets include admission to all matches played on Friday, Saturday or Championship Sunday. Bleacher seating based on availability or bring your own beach towel.
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Slots in championship tourney are still up for grabs
The draw and seedings for the Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship will be announced on April 29. But two time defending champ Southern Cal (pictured) is battling Long Beach State for one of two at large bids to the tourney. Below is the AVCA Coaches Poll released on April 16. The battle for the three slots alloted to Eastern teams is also expected to go down to the wire.
1. UCLA: 30-3
2. Pepperdine: 21-3
3. Hawai’i: 32-3
4. Cal Poly: 23-5
5. Southern Cal: 20-10
6. Long Beach State: 22-4
7. Florida State: 24-6
8. LSU: 22-10
9. South Carolina: 20-6
10. Florida Int: 20-8
11. Georgia State: 22-10
12. Stanford: 16-10
13. California: 19-6
14. Arizona: 16-10
15. LoyolaMarymount: 19-12
16. Grand Canyon: 11-14
17. Stetson: 27-8
18. Florida Atlantic: 17-12
19. Tulane: 21-12
20. St. Mary’s: 14-9.
Others Receiving Votes: Washington, College of Charleston, TCU, Florida Gulf Coast, UAB, Arizona State.
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Future Tourney Dates
2019: May 3-5
2020: May 1-3
2021: May 7-9
2022: May 6-8