Top-ranked TCU rolled on in NCAA women’s beach volleyball this past weekend, making the most of its trip to Miami, where the Horned Frogs went 4-0, including a 4-1 win over No. 2 USC.
Many teams gathered in Gulf Shores, Alabama, site of the NCAA Championship, for the March to May tournament. That included No. 3 UCLA, which went 5-0, with victories over No. 4 Florida State, No. 6 LSU and No. 10 Georgia State.
TCU (16-0) had six players win all their matches — Hailey Brockett, Anhelina Khmil, Sutton MacTavish, Kate Privett, Rochelle Scott and Ana Vergara — as the Horned Frogs beat USC 4-1 and host No. 14 FIU 3-2 on Friday and No. 15 FAU 5-0 and Jacksonville 5-0 on Saturday.
Previously unbeaten USC (13-1) bounced back from the loss to TCU by beating FAU 3-2, FIU 3-2 and North Florida 5-0. Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple are 9-0 this season, all on Court 1. The Nourse twins, Audrey and Nicole, are 11-3 on three diferent courts, including 5-0 at No. 3.
UCLA (18-1) has won nine in a row. In Gulf Shores, the Bruins opened with 3-0 wins over No. 20 South Carolina and LSU before beating FSU 3-2. Saturday, they beat Georgia State and UAB. Maggie Boyd and Lexy Denaburg are 14-0 on Court 1 this season, Haley Hallgren and Rileigh Powers are 17-0 (including 12-0 at No. 4), and Peri Brennan and Abby Van Winkle are 10-0, 9-0 on Court 2.
Florida State (16-2) opened with a 3-0 win over No. 19 Tulane before its rain-delayed loss to UCLA. The Seminoles on Saturday beat LSU 3-2 and South Carolina 4-1 before closing the tournament with its second sweep this season of Georgia State.
No. 5 Loyola Marymount (12-1) was also in Gulf Shores and Lions took their first loss of the season. Friday, the had 3-0 wins over UAB, Georgia State and Tulane, but opened Sunday by losing to South Carolina 3-2. They finished with a 5-0 win over Mercer.
Sixth-ranked LSU (13-4) went 2-2 on the Redneck Riviera. The Tigers swept Georgia State before getting beat by UCLA, lost to FSU and then swept Mercer.
No. 7 Grand Canyon (12-4) crushed the competition as it took 5-0 victories over visiting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UC Davis, No. 18 Pepperdine and Arizona State.
No. 8 Stanford (11-6) played only once last week when the Cardinal made the short trip to Cal and lost 3-2 on Saturday. Cal clinched the match with victories on courts 1, 2 and 3, including a 21-15, 21-19 win by Ainsley Radell and Ashley Delgado over Charlie Ekstrom and Kate Reilly. Cal (12-3) earlier Saturday swept visiting Saint Mary’s.
No. 9 Hawai’i had the week off, and No. 10 Georgia State (10-7) went 2-4. After losing to LSU, LMU, UCLA and FSU, the Panthers beat UAB 4-1 and Tulane 3-2.
Among the gatherings last weekend, No. 13 Long Beach State was the host for Texas, CSUN, Utah and No. 16 Stetson. VolleyballMag.com photographer Mark Rigney’s photos follow. Long Beach (8-8) swept Texas, beat Stetson 3-2, beat Utah 4-1, and then Stetson again 3-2. Stetson swept both Utah and Texas.
Another busy weekend is ahead with tournaments at TCU and LSU. Look for the preview by Larry Hamel on Thursday.
NCAA beach volleyball: TCU dominates in Miami, UCLA goes 5-0 in Gulf Shores Volleyballmag.com.
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