2019 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship

The 2019 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship was the fourth annual tournament deciding the NCAA champions for the 2019 collegiate beach volleyball season. It took place May 3–5 in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and was hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It was a double elimination tournament, with a single championship match.[1][2] The Bruins won their second championship in a row by defeating Southern Cal 3–0 in the championship match on May 5, 2019.

2019 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship

Dates	May 3–5, 2019
Teams	8
Defending champions	UCLA Bruins
Champions	UCLA Bruins
Runners-up	USC Trojans
Matches played	14
← 2018 2020 →

Qualification

The tournament was open to teams from Divisions I, II, and III. The top three teams each in the East and West Regions qualified automatically, and two additional teams were selected at large. Selections for the tournament were announced on April 28 on NCAA.com.[3]

Seed	Team	Record	Bid Type	Region	Appearance	Last Bid
2	UCLA	31–3	Automatic	West	Fourth	2018
4	Pepperdine	20–9	Automatic	West	Fourth	2018
7	Hawaii	26-9	At-large	West	Third	2018
3	Florida State	28–5	Automatic	East	Third	2018
1	USC	28–4	Automatic	West	Fourth	2018
8	Stetson	29–8	Automatic	East	Second	2016
5	LSU	29–6	Automatic	East	Third	2018
6	Cal Poly	25–10	At-large	West	First	Never

Bracket

[4]

	Matches 1–6 Friday, May 3					Matches 7–10 Friday, May 3 Saturday, May 4					Matches 11–12 Saturday, May 4					Match 13 Sunday, May 5					Championship Match 14 Sunday, May 5
	Winner's Bracket
	1	USC	1
	8	Stetson	3
						8	Stetson	2
						5	LSU	3
	4	Pepperdine	0
	5	LSU	3
											5	LSU	0
											2	UCLA	3
	3	Florida State	3
	6	Cal Poly	0
						3	Florida State	0
						2	UCLA	3
	2	UCLA	3
	7	Hawaii	2																		2	UCLA	3
																					1	USC	0
	Loser's Bracket
	1	USC	3
	4	Pepperdine	0			1	USC	3
						3	Florida State	1
											1	USC	3
	6	Cal Poly	0								7	Hawaii	0			1	USC	3
	7	Hawaii	3			7	Hawaii	3								5	LSU	2
						8	Stetson	0

All-Tournament Team

At the conclusion of the championship, five pairs (selected from all teams in the field) were honored as members of the All-Tournament Team.

Court	Pair	Team	Record	Notes
1	Abril Bustamante/Tina Graudina	USC	3-0	3 other matches were left unfinished
2	Darby Dunn/Sammee Thomas	Stetson	2-0	1 other match was left unfinished
3	Zana Muno/Abby Van Winkle	UCLA	4-0
4	Hi'ilawe Huddleston/Kylin Loker	Hawai'i	3-1
5	Izzy Carey/Lindsey Sparks	UCLA	3-0	1 other match was left unfinished

Media Coverage

In December 2017, ESPN was awarded a 5-year contract to provide television coverage of the NCAA Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship, beginning with the 2018 season.[5] In addition, the Selection Show for the championship tournament was broadcast on April 28 at NCAA.com.[6]

Television channels

The 14 dual matches comprising the entirety of the championship were broadcast live on the following channels at the specified times:[7]

• Day 1: Opening Rounds (Matches/Duals 1-8) - ESPNU, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM CDT
• Day 2: Third Round (Match/Dual 11); Elimination Bracket: Second and Third Rounds (Matches/Duals 9-10, 12) - ESPN2 (later rebroadcast on ESPNU), 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM CDT
• Day 3: Semifinal/Elimination Bracket Final (Match/Dual 13) - ESPN2, 9:30 AM CDT
• Day 3: National Championship Final (Match/Dual 14) - ESPN, 1:00 PM CDT
• Day 3: Trophy Ceremony - ESPN3, 3:00 PM CDT

References

1. "How to watch the NCAA beach volleyball national championships". espnW.com. May 3, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
2. "2019 NC Beach Volleyball Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
3. "NC Beach Volleyball: 2019 Selection Show". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
4. "2019 NC Beach Volleyball Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
5. "NCAA awards ESPN beach volleyball rights". NCAA.com. December 20, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
6. "Road to the Championship". NCAA.com. April 28, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
7. "Broadcast Info". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 4, 2019.