COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Professional beach volleyball will take a back seat to junior and collegiate volleyball this week in the U.S. This weekend’s NCAA Selection Show will reveal the eight schools attending the NCAA National Championship and automatic bids to the USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships.
Professional tours are taking the week off, opening up maximum exposure for amateur beach volleyball. Here in the U.S., schools are prepping for the collegiate postseason, the beginning of summer break and an expanding Junior Beach Tour schedule.
USA VOLLEYBALL COLLEGIATE BEACH CHAMPIONSHIPS
USA Volleyball host the first event of the Team USA Summer Champions Series, May 11-13 in Hermosa Beach, California. The women’s final will air live on NBCSN, May 13, 6 p.m. ET, followed by the men’s final on tape delay.
USA Volleyball’s Collegiate Beach Championships will be played at Hermosa Beach Pier and on the line are spots for a USA Volleyball collegiate beach national team. The 24 women’s and eight men’s teams competing are expected to be named in the first week of May. The event serves as a trials for a U.S. national team, therefore only U.S. citizens will be able to compete. For partnerships where one athlete is not a U.S. citizen, the nominating coach will then have to nominate their top pair of athletes subject to the Selection Committee’s approval. The new pair will then be judged on each individuals’ point rankings.
Eight automatic women’s bids to the CBC will come from the schools attending the NCAA Championship. The NCAA’s Selection Show is on April 30 on NCAA.com.
NCAA BEACH
Watch the NCAA Selection Show on April 30, 7 p.m. ET on NCAA.com. Eight schools will be chosen to play at the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship, May 5-7 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Three teams will be selected from the east region, three from the west region and the two remaining teams will be selected at-large from across the country. At the inaugural 2016 NCAA Championships, the teams were: Florida State, USC, Pepperdine, UCLA, Hawaii, Arizona, Georgia State and Stetson.
The University of Southern California remains atop the AVCA Coaches Poll with a 30-0 record this year. Behind them are fellow California schools, No. 2 UCLA, and No. 3 Pepperdine. Rounding out the top five are No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Long Beach State.
10 days away from #NCAABeachVB Championship in Gulf Shores! Get your tickets now! https://t.co/lgM58LsUuo pic.twitter.com/TWrQxc9QGh
— USA Volleyball (@usavolleyball) April 25, 2017
JUNIOR BEACH TOUR
Three events remain in the month of April, in Florida, California and Arizona. Looking ahead, there are 16 events in May and 60 total left this summer.
BEACH HIGH PERFORMANCE TRYOUT
The final 2017 Beach High Performance tryout is April 29-30 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Central Zone tryout is open to boys and girls born in 1999-2006.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Xiamen 3-Star
– Brittany Hochevar/Emily Day had a team best fifth-place finish
– Ryan Doherty/Avery Drost finished fifth in their first tournament together
– Sean Rosenthal/Trevor Crabb tied for fifth out of the qualification tournament, their best team finish
– Tied for 17th: Kimberly DiCello/Emily Stockman, Caitlin Ledoux/Kendra Vanzwieten; Stafford Slick/Billy Allen
NORCECA Cayman Islands
– Jace Pardon/Lara Dykstra earned silver in their first tournament of the year and in Dykstra’s first professional international tournament
– Mark Burik/Bill Kolinske earned bronze in their first tournament of the year
– Betsi Flint/Kelley Larsen finished fourth in their second NORCECA event of 2017
– Jon Mesko/Skylar Del Sol finished in ninth