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UCLA faces Stanford in pursuit of its 3rd NCAA beach volleyball title

May 3, 2026

And then there was one.

Three local teams went into the quarterfinals of the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships on Saturday morning in Gulf Shores, Alabama, but UCLA was the only one to advance and get past the semifinals to make the championship match.

The third-seeded Bruins (33-6), vying for their first national title since 2019, will face top-seeded Stanford (39-4), making its first final appearance, at 9:30 a.m. Sunday (ESPN).

Last year marked the first time in nine NCAA championship matches that a team from outside California hoisted the trophy, with TCU eclipsing Loyola Marymount by a 3-2 score. It was also the first final to not feature six-time champion USC or two-time champion UCLA.

Saturday was perilously close to no Southern California representative advancing out of the semifinal for the first time since the tournament began in 2016. No tournament was held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After USC and Loyola Marymount lost their quarterfinal morning matches, the third-seeded Bruins came through with a 3-1 defeat of sixth-seeded Cal Poly. Recording wins were Maggie Boyd and Sally Perez (21-18, 21-9), Alexa Fernandez and Harper Cooper (21-19, 21-19) and Kenzie Brower and Mallory LaBreche (22-20, 23-21).

The win set up the Bruins’ sixth showdown of the season with the second-seeded Longhorns. UCLA won the first two matches, but Texas won the past three.

The Bruins put an end to that streak Saturday. Ava Williamson and Jesse Dueck notched the first point with a 21-17, 21-19 win, followed quickly by Fernandez and Cooper rolling to a 21-12, 21-14 win.

The Longhorns won the next two duals, turning both teams’ attention to the No. 5 pairs matchup between Brower and LaBreche and Texas’ Karin Zolnercikova and Macey Butler. On their eighth dual point, the Bruins clinched the match 28-26, with the freshman LaBreche getting the winner on a tapper to her left.

UCLA and Stanford split their four matches this season, with the Bruins winning their latest clash 3-1 in an MPSF semifinal April 24.

The Cardinal kicked off their Saturday with a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over archrival and eighth-seeded Cal, which took out Long Beach State with a taut 3-2 result in the opening round Friday. Stanford then put away fifth-seeded Florida State 3-1 in their semifinal.

USC swept by Seminoles

One day after it was all chalk with every higher seed winning, fourth-seeded USC got swept aside 3-0 by Florida State in the quarterfinals in the first upset off the tournament.

USC’s Quincy Stevens and Kerry Keefe dropped the first point 21-17, 21-18, followed by Madison Goellner and Kaileigh Truslow falling 21-19, 21-17. That left Zoey Henson and Sarah Wood to try and topple the Seminoles’ two-time All-American team of Alexis Durish and Audrey Koenig, capturing the first set 21-19 but then coming up short 21-14 and 15-13.

The seven-time national champion Trojans (29-12), hunting for another trophy after having its four-year title reign snapped in last year’s semifinals, finished the season losing six of their last nine contests.

Longhorns end LMU’s run

Second-seeded Texas halted seventh-seeded LMU’s hopes of returning to the championship match, which it lost last season 3-2 to Texas Christian.

The Lions (30-11), in their sixth consecutive quarterfinals, got an early boost of optimism when Ellie Davis and Katie McAlister earned the first dual point of the match with a 21-17, 21-16 victory. Coming up short were Tanon Rosenthal and Anna Pelloia (21-11, 21-16), Jaeya Brach and Magdelena Rabitsch (21-18, 21-15), Maja Kruczek and Josefine Schaekel (21-13, 21-17) and Macey Butler and Karin Zolnercikova (21-17, 21-16).

Orange County Register

News Details

UCLA faces Stanford in pursuit of its 3rd NCAA beach volleyball title

USC swept by Seminoles

Longhorns end LMU’s run

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