College beach volleyball: UCLA new No. 1 as tightly bunched top 4 eye postseason

The Center of Effort Challenge last weekend, as expected, re-arranged the college-beach-volleyball landscape, producing a new No. 1 team in UCLA.
Coach Stein Metzger tells us where his Bruins stand going into crucial competitions before the NCAA Championships.
Also, three conferences will hold tournaments to highlight the weekend schedule.
We close out by sharing the weekly honor roll of decorated conference pairs.

UCLA makes late-season statements

Based on what transpired in the Center of Effort Challenge last weekend, UCLA seemingly put itself in the driver’s seat for a third NCAA beach-volleyball title. During the seminal competition in San Luis Obispo, California, on back-to-back days, the Bruins knocked off the then-No. 1 (TCU) and No. 2 (USC) teams in the country.

Not complicated. If No. 3 beats No. 1 and No. 2, who should be No. 1?

The voters in the AVCA poll rewarded UCLA (30-2) for its noteworthy victories by moving the Bruins up to No. 1, slotting TCU (31-1) at No. 2 and placing USC (24-2) at No. 3. As organic as that logic might seem, more meaningful volleyball will be played before the selection committee seeds its teams 1 through 17 for the NCAA Championships on May 3-7 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Fittingly, UCLA figures to play a significant role in that process.

To recap, in the Center of Effort, UCLA recorded a 3-2 victory over TCU in pool play and won the first-place dual against USC 3-2. The Horned Frogs bounced back in the third-place dual, tripping Florida State 3-2. The Seminoles (29-6), who dropped a 3-2 decision to USC, in their pool, remained at No. 4 in the weekly poll. All of these results illustrate the razor-thin margins separating the top four contenders for the NCAA title.

Tuesday, USC was at home against CSU Bakersfield and came away with a 5-0 sweep in which it didn’t lose a set.

The three Los Angeles program ranked among the top five will renew acquaintances on Thursday afternoon, when No. 5 Loyola Marymount (23-6), coming off a fifth-place finish in the Center of Effort, joins UCLA and USC in a high-powered tri-meet at the Bruins’ Mapes Beach venue. With numerous poll and NCAA seeding implications in play, the Pac-12 Network will air the three duals live.

Bruins still face tough sledding

Coach Stein Metzger has some chilling news for the rest of college beach volleyball. His top-ranked UCLA team that…