Beach volleyball season opens as UCLA rallies in Hawai’i, upsets abound in Florida
Riley Wagoner of Hawai’i hits against UCLA’s Kenzie Brower/UH photo
UCLA was the last team standing after three chaotic days in Honolulu as the NCAA beach volleyball season opened with a bang. Also, Arizona State bedeviled the competition in Tampa and TCU dispatched two ranked foes in Houston. We conclude this report with a look ahead to the second week of the young season:
Battered-but-unbowed Bruins
Wounded multiple times during the first two days of round-robin battles on Queen’s Beach, UCLA rallied on Saturday to win the war.
The Bruins, ranked No. 2 in the AVCA preseason beach-volleyball poll, blitzed No. 1 USC 4-1 in the title dual of the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic in Honolulu, culminating an epic march through the championship bracket.
UCLA had staggered out of round-robin play with a 1-3 record, beaten 4-1 by the archrival Women of Troy, 3-2 by No. 7 Stanford and 3-2 by No. 5 Loyola Marymount, with only a 5-0 victory over No. 9 Hawaii as a Band-Aid on the blood-letting.
But longtime assistant and now head coach Jenny Johnson Jordan, in her first tournament in command, inspired her troops in a final-day counterattack.
First to fall, by a 5-0 count in the quarterfinal, were the host Rainbow Wahine, who lost all five of their duals on home sand. Stanford put up stiff opposition in the semifinals before succumbing 3-2, with Jaden Whitmarsh and Tessa Van Winkle beating Chloe Hoffman and Kate Reilly 21-18, 21-17 on Court 3 to clinch the victory for the Bruins.
Pivotal in the 42nd meeting all-time between UCLA and USC, the most decorated programs in NCAA beach volleyball, was a 21-15, 21-17 victory on the marquee No. 1 court by Bruins Maggie Boyd and Lexy Denaburg over Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple. Boyd and Denaburg had gone 3-3 in their matches on storied Queen’s Beach coming into the final, including a straight-sets setback to Kraft and Maple, who came into the final undefeated without losing a set.
The Bruins’ 5s pair of junior Natalie Myszkowski and sophomore Ensley Alden, who went 6-1 on the weekend, sealed the victory by topping Olivia Bakos and Ainsley Radell 21-19, 24-22. UCLA took a 24-18 advantage in the all-time series with USC, which advanced to the championship dual with a 4-1 victory in the semifinals over Loyola Marymount.
The team that likely raised its stock the most during the three-day opening-week firefight was Stanford. The Cardinal won significant skirmishes by going unbeaten during round-robin competition – upsetting three squads ranked higher – with a starting 10 that featured four freshmen and two sophomores.
Stanford’s fab four of fresh faces include Arkansas native Brooke Rockwell (in the top pair with three-time AVCA All-American Xolani Hodel), Canadian Ruby Sorra, Californian Chloe Hoffman and 6-foot-2 Californian Clara Stowell. All of the first-year players come with resumes that include training in the development program of their national teams.
UCLA’s Ensley Aiden hits against Stanford’s Clara Stowell
“The team has done a tremendous job instilling belief in themselves and each other,” Cardinal Coach Andrew Fuller told us Saturday night. “We’re fired up and just want to keep improving.”
After such eye-opening performances by the youngsters in their first baptism of fire, Stanford figures to jump a few rungs in the rankings, particularly when the teams at the top took serious scars.
“The competition was so strong here that you see where the bar is set in terms of level of play for the whole season,” Fuller said. “As far as the polls are concerned, it doesn’t really change our internal team narrative. It’s early. It gives people something to talk about, but when we get closer to May, they take on a little more meaning.”
A rock-’em-sock-’em tourney provided plenty for the pundits to ponder. UCLA (4-3) showed its mettle when the stakes were highest. Three-time defending national champion USC (4-2) beat every team except Stanford, which went 4-1. Loyola Marymount (2-3) took at least one match in each of its losses. And how much of a hit should Hawaii absorb when all of its defeats came to higher-ranked teams?
Upsets abound in Florida
Arizona State, ranked 18th, validated the optimism spurred by the addition of Coach Kristen Rohr, going 4-0 in the Tampa Invitational. The Sun Devils look to be a team on the rise after bouncing three opponents that sat higher in the preseason poll — No. 11 Florida Atlantic 3-2, No. 12 Georgia State 3-2, No. 18 South Carolina 4-1 — and Division II Tampa 4-1.
Arizona State’s Ava Williamson attacks during the Tampa Invitational
Sophomores Kendall Whitmarsh and Adriana Nieves Papaleo went undefeated on Court 5 with three of the victories needing the tiebreaker and the second set of a sweep against FAU’s Kendall Mignerey and Alivia Orvieto going to 25-23. Whitmarsh’s dad is the late Mike Whitmarsh, an all-time AVP great who was the silver medalist on the sand in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and Kendall is the younger sister of UCLA’s Jaden.
Sophomore Arden Besecker (a portal acquisition from Florida State) and freshman Ava Williamson went 3-1 on Court 2 for the Sun Devils, who got the clinching point that kept them perfect on the weekend during the victory over FAU when top pair Daniela Kensinger (sophomore transfer from Saint Mary’s) and Anya Pemberton won the tiebreaker 17-15 over veterans Courtney Moon and Marketa Svozilova.
The other major newsmaker from the Cigar City was Coach Jeff Lamm’s host Spartans, who proved anything but “happy to be here” cannon fodder.
A three-time winner of the AVCA Small College Championship (2019, ‘21 and ‘23), Tampa knocked off South Carolina 4-1 and Florida Atlantic 3-2, and dropped a 3-2 decision to Georgia State.
Sophomore Angel Williams (from Costa Rica) and freshman Teona Treskounov (a Canadian), playing on Court 3, notched the deciding point against FAU by claiming the tiebreaker 15-8 over Kate McLaughlin and Julie Honzovicova after battling back to win the second set 24-22.
The Spartans’ Wolfe twins, sophomores Hailey and Nevaeh, went 3-1 on the weekend bouncing between the second and third courts, and Keely Hamilton-Madison Brunick won three out of four on Courts 4 and 5.
Lamm’s crew has three more prime-time weekends – the Seminole Beach Bash in Tallahassee, its second Tampa Invitational and the Sugar Beach Bash in Louisiana – before settling into D-II competition against fellow members of the Sunshine State Conference.
The Spartans’ opening-week results ought not to be ignored by AVCA poll voters.
“I have thought for the past few years we have had the talent to break into the top 20 but lacked the confidence, the belief we belonged there,” Lamm told VBM. “The level of competition was amazing this weekend with five pretty evenly matched teams battling it out. Hopefully, the (players) now believe they can compete with anyone and we keep moving in the right direction.
“Should we receive consideration for the AVCA poll? I guess if voters feel FAU, ASU, GSU and South Carolina are top-20-caliber teams, then you would have to add Tampa to the mix.”
Georgia State and Florida Atlantic broke even in four duals. South Carolina will have to dig out of a hole after taking the collar while going 4-16 in matches.
Around the nation
In the most significant single dual outside of Hawaii, No. 4 TCU eked out a 3-2 victory over No. 6 LSU during the Third Coast Challenge in Houston. The Horned Frogs (4-0) earned points from their 4s and 5s pair and the crack top duo of Hailey Hamlett and Anhelina Khmil recorded the clincher with a sweep of Gabi Bailey and Amber Haynes. Hamlett-Khmil powered through their four matches without dropping a set. TCU also took out No. 15 Washington 4-1. The Huskies (2-2) dropped a 4-1 decision to LSU (3-1). Host Houston Christian went 1-3 and Central Arkansas was 0-4.
No. 3 Florida State ran the table against host Jacksonville, Coastal Carolina and North Florida during the first day of the Dolphin Duals. No. 13 Florida International topped Coastal Carolina (2-2) and North Florida (2-2) on Saturday, both by 3-2 counts, then won duals on Sunday over Tennessee-Chattanooga, Palm Beach Atlantic and Jacksonville.
The No. 16 Hatters cruised through their Stetson Spring Fling with four victories, going 19-1 in matches. Florida Gulf Coast left the DeLand, Florida, event with a 3-1 record.
Cal Poly, ranked 20th, lassoed its four duals in the Cowgirl Beach Bash in Louisiana by a 19-1 mathes margin. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-1) earned a match “W” on Court 3 against the Mustangs. Also noteworthy were milestone first victories by debut programs McNeese State and Tarleton State. The host Cowgirls took a 4-1 victory over Tarleton State, which defeated Nicholls State 4-1.
No. 8 California posted home-sand sweeps against American River, San Jose State, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara over two days.
In a dual between ranked teams, No. 10 Long Beach State swamped No. 19 Pepperdine in Malibu, dropping one set. The Beach and the Waves both topped Vanguard 5-0 in the three-team meet.
Host Grand Canyon (4-0), ranked 14th, had easy pickings against Ottawa, Arizona Christian and Alabama-Birmingham, but Boise State proved more troublesome. The Broncos pushed the Lopes to a 3-2 score, winning on Courts 3 and 5. Over three days of desert competition in Tucson and Phoenix, Boise State went 4-2, also losing 3-2 to Arizona, which won all four of its Cactus Classic duals.
Tulane broke fast out of the gate, topping five opponents in its Green Wave Invitational.
Host Missouri State started 5-0 with its victories against Tennessee-Martin (2-2) and Louisiana-Monroe (3-1) coming by 3-2 scores.
Coming up
After a slam-bang opening slate, the schedule in Week 2 cools down, with far fewer marquee duals involving highly ranked teams.
Eight squads that were voted into the AVCA preseason top 20 will gather for the Battle of Los Angeles at three locations on Friday and Saturday, but host schools USC, UCLA and Loyola Marymount will not play each other. Also competing at USC’s Merle Norman Stadium, UCLA’s Mapes Beach and the courts on LMU’s campus are Long Beach State, California, Grand Canyon, Cal Poly, Washington and unranked Concordia-Irvine.
Florida State will see action against ranked teams in Georgia State and Stetson in its Seminole Beach Bash in Tallahassee. Tampa and Louisiana-Monroe also will come calling on Friday and Saturday.
The dual that could carry the most poll implications will take place at the Battle of the Bay in Palo Alto, California, when host Stanford meets TCU. Rounding out the event on Friday and Saturday are UC Davis, Oregon and San Jose State.
Tulane, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Houston Christian, Nebraska and Northern Arizona will join host Louisiana State in the Tiger Beach Challenge in Baton Rouge on Saturday and Sunday.
The UAB Challenge in Birmingham on Saturday and Sunday features Florida Atlantic, host Alabama-Birmingham, UT-Martin, Texas-El Paso and Eastern Kentucky.
Pepperdine’s Malibu Invite in California on Friday and Saturday will have Arizona, Boise State, Vanguard and San Francisco in the field.
Host South Carolina will look to bounce back during its Wheeler Beach Bash. Coming to Columbia on Saturday and Sunday are Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston North Carolina-Wilmington and Chattanooga.
In Miami on Friday and Saturday, Florida International will play host to Emmanuel, Barry and Palm Beach Atlantic.
North Florida will welcome Florida Gulf Coast, Mercer and crosstown rival Jacksonville, to its DUUUVAL Duals on Friday and Saturday.
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