UCLA Beach Volleyball Looks to Advance to Championship Dual
After the Bruins defeated Florida State this morning, Loyola Marymount defeated four-time national champion Southern Cal.
Only two schools have ever won national championships in beach volleyball, and both of them call Los Angeles home.
UCLA has won the title twice while Southern Cal has won the title six times including each of the last four.
Well, there will be a new champion crowned this year because the Trojans lost in the quarterfinals this morning to the Loyola Marymount Lions, 3-1.
That, obviously, sets up the stage for another possible title by the Bruins, but being the #1 seed doesn’t guarantee anything, as we saw during the women’s basketball tournament.
There hasn’t been one particularly dominant team in beach volleyball this season. Every team in the tournament this year has lost at least five matches. So, there’s been parity in the sport this season.
Last Time Out
This morning, the Bruins squared off against Florida State at 6 am PT. Despite the early start time, UCLA wasn’t fazed.
The Bruins came out and promptly swept the Seminoles, 3-0.
UCLA began the dual by winning the first set on four of the five courts. Only the #4 pair of Alexa Fernandez and Kaley Mathews lost their first set.
The #3 pair of Jessie Smith and Kenzie Brower set up the sweep by defeating Carra Sassack and Bailey Higgins, 21-10, 21-12, to give UCLA their first point.
The #2 pair of Natalie Myszkowski and Peri Brennan scored the Bruins second point by sweeping FSU’s Gella Andrew and Maddie Trusty, 21-15, 21-15.
That left the Bruins needing just one more point to advance, but the pair which won the first on each of the other three courts lost the second set.
After splitting the first two sets 21-19, 19-21, the #1 pair of Sally Perez and Maggie Boyd were the first ones to wrap up the third and deciding set, winning 15-11 to clinch the dual for the Bruins and setting up the semifinal match against the winner of LMU-Southern Cal.
Loyola Marymount Lions
In that quarterfinal, the Lions overwhelmed the defending champs. The #3 pair of Abbey Thorup and Lisa Luini defeated Mabyn Thomas and Maya Gessner, 21-17, 21-18 to score LMU’s first point.
Then, Tanon Rosenthal and Gi Poletti Corrales swept Madison Goellner and Kaileigh Truslow, 22-20, 21-16.
That left the Trojans needing to win on all three remaining courts in order to advance.
The #4 pair of Delaney Karl and Ella Larkin did their part by winning the third set against Isabelle Reffel and Magdalena Rabitsch to score Southern Cal’s first point, 15-21, 21-14, 15-9.
But LMU’s Michelle Shaffer and Anna Pelloia took the third set on Court #1 from Madison White and Zoey Henson to win, 21-13, 14-21, 15-7 and earn the Lions’ dual-clinching point.
If the Bruins defeat the Lions, they will move on to play the winner of the second semifinal between #2 seed TCU and either #3 seed Stanford or #6 seed Cal Poly tomorrow at 7:30 am PT tomorrow morning.
This is your NCAA Beach Volleyball semifinals open thread.
NCAA Beach Volleyball Semifinals
Teams: #1 seed UCLA Bruins (32-6) vs. #4 seed LMU Lions (37-6)
Probable Start Time: Saturday, May 3, 2023, 10:30 am PT (following conclusion of Stanford vs. Cal Poly)
Where: Gulf Beach Place, Gulf Shores, AL
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Go Bruins!!! Bring home NC #125!
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The Bruins lose their semifinal match to LMU, 3-2, ensuring that a new team will win the national championship.