International Volleyball

UCLA gets top seed as NCAA announces beach volleyball tournament bracket

UCLA gets top seed as NCAA announces beach volleyball tournament bracket

By Lee Feinswog and Larry Hamel

The NCAA’s National Collegiate Beach Championship bracket is set after a weekend that certainly gave the committee reason to ponder as it filled out the field.

The top seed in Gulf Shores, Alabama, will be UCLA, followed by TCU, two-time defending champion USC and Florida State.

The tournament previously was double-elimination, but this year it’s been changed to one and done. There were nine conference winners, which included their respective automatic bids, and eight at-large invitations. 

Action on the Redneck Riviera begins at 4 p.m. Central on Wednesday when 16th-seeded UT Martin plays No. 17 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a play-in match for the right to face UCLA.

There are eight matches Friday, which sets up Saturday’s quarterfinals and semifinals. The national-title match is Sunday.

Every match starting Friday will be shown by ESPN on one or more of its platforms, including Sunday’s noon Eastern championship on ESPN. The long-range forecast on Weather.com predicts that the temperatures will not break 80, which is amazing for Gulf Shores this time of year, but there is a possibility of thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday.

Who’s in

1. UCLA, Pac-12 winner
2. TCU, CCSA winner
3. USC, at-large
4. Florida State, at-large
5. LSU, at-large
6. Loyola Marymount, WCC winner
7. Grand Canyon, at large
8. Cal, at-large
9. Long Beach State, Big West winner
10. Stanford, at-large
11. Hawai’i, at-large
12. FAU, Conference USA winner
13. FIU, at-large
14. Georgia State, Sun Belt winner
15. Stetson, ASUN winner
16. UT Martin, Ohio Valley winner
17. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Southland winner

The matchups

No 16 UT Martin vs. No. 17 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

UT Martin
Record: 27-8.
Coach: Jaclynn Wilson, sixth season (Wilson also coaches the Skyhawks’ indoor program).
The lineup in the last match and record on that court:
No. 1: Dylan Mott and Logan Wallick (16-9).
No. 2: Kambree Lucas and Olivia O’Keefe (20-7).
No. 3: Lucy Kaufman and Addy Vaughn (20-7).
No. 4: Haeleigh Paulino and Jenna Vallee (23-3).
No. 5: Kayla Carrell and Ryan Rednour (6-0).
Synopsis: UT Martin, riding a 10-dual winning streak, earned an automatic bid as champion of the Ohio Valley Conference, after entering its tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Skyhawks went 10-0 during OVC regular-season play and hold victories over two ranked AQ teams competing in the NCAA draw, Georgia State and Stetson.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Record: 24-9.
Coach: Gayle…

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