2017 NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship

Top Pairs Turn Attention To USA Volleyball Collegiate Pairs Championship

Top Pairs Turn Attention To USA Volleyball Collegiate Pairs Championship

The USAV Collegiate Pairs Championship will crown the best men's and women's beach volleyball duos in the country.

May 8, 2017 by Megan Kaplon
Top Pairs Turn Attention To USA Volleyball Collegiate Pairs Championship
When the NCAA took over hosting the national championship for beach volleyball from the American Volleyball Coaches Association, it marked the end of a much-loved pairs tournament.

Luckily for fans and for top college beach duos, USA Volleyball is bringing back a season-ending pairs championship. A week after the second annual NCAA beach volleyball national championship, USAV will host the double-gender Collegiate Beach Championships in Hermosa Beach, California, on May 11-13 to crown the top college duos in the country.

Twenty-four women's pairs and 12 men's duos will travel to Hermosa Beach to compete for the national pairs' crown and for a spot on the USA Volleyball collegiate beach national team.

Seven of the eight NCAA beach volleyball championship squads will send at least one pair, with finalists Pepperdine and Southern California sending four duos each. Florida State, LSU, South Carolina, and UCLA will each send two pairs, while Long Beach State will send one. Hawaii, the eighth member of the 2017 NCAA beach volleyball championship field, is not sending any teams to the pairs championship. The remaining seven teams in the field are coming from Arizona, Florida Atlantic, Georgia State, Loyola Marymount, Saint Mary's, TCU, and Washington.

Only U.S. citizens are eligible to play in the event, so many of the top players and teams from the 2017 NCAA beach volleyball season will be absent, including USC's Sophie Bukovec (Canada), UCLA's Megan and Nicole McNamara (Canada), and Long Beach State's Nele Barber (Germany).

Favorites to contend for the title will be USC's Sara Hughes and Kelly Claes, who led the Trojans to their second consecutive NCAA title; Arizona twins Madison and McKenna Witt; Florida State's top pair of Leigh Andrew and Brooke Kuhlman; and Loyola Marymount's Sarah Sponcil and Savannah Slattery.

On the men's side, MPSF programs dominate the field, with Hawaii, Long Beach State, USC, UC Irvine, and UCLA all represented. Athletes from Lewis, Mount St. Joseph, Palomar College, Davenport, and Cincinnati Christian were also selected to compete.

USAV Collegiate Pairs Championship: Women's Draw


Player 1 Player 2 School
McKenna Witt Madison Witt Arizona
Jessalyn Kinlaw Megan Rice Florida Atlantic
Leigh Andrew Brooke Kuhlman Florida State
Victoria Paranagua Vanessa Freire Florida State
Delaney Rohan Chelsea Ross Georgia State
Sarah Sponcil Savannah Slattery Loyola Marymount
Rachel Nieto Kobi Pekich Long Beach State
Claire Coppola Kristen Nuss LSU
Olivia Powers Katie Lindelow LSU
Delaney Knudsen Madalyn Roh Pepperdine
Corinne Quiggle Brittany Howard Pepperdine
Skylar Caputo Heidi Dyer Pepperdine
Anika Wilson Deahna Kraft Pepperdine
Lindsey Knudsen Payton Rund Saint Mary's College (CA)
Katie Smith Adrianna Culbert South Carolina
Macie Tendrich Katie Zimmerman South Carolina
Kelly Claes Sara Hughes Southern California
Terese Cannon Nicolette Martin Southern California
Abril Bustamante Joy Dennis Southern California
Jenna Belton Jo Kremer Southern California
Amy Neal Jaelyn Greene TCU
Kamila Tan Jordan Anderson UCLA
Elise Zappia Madi Yeomans UCLA
Crissy Jones Tia Scambray Washington

USAV Collegiate Pairs Championship: Men's Draw


Player 1 Player 2 School
Nathan Vander Meer Logan Webber Davenport/Cincinnati Christian
Brett Rosenmeier Colton Cowell Hawaii
Matthew Yoshimoto Jake Walenga Lewis
Louis Richard Matt Butler Long Beach State
Alex Vohland Brett Cooper Mount St. Joseph
Tyler Hedley Vincent Pizzuti Palomar College/Long Beach State
Brian Ross Bobby Costigan Sacred Heart
Andy Benesh Chris Orenic Southern California
Lucas Yoder Michael Saeta Southern California/UC Irvine
Grant Friedman Scott Stadick UC Irvine
Reid Dominguez Dillon Hoffman UC Irvine
Jackson Bantle Hagen Smith UCLA