HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. – Cool weather greeted the opening day of the USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships at Hermosa Beach Pier. Pool play started for the 24-pair women’s field, and the men’s 11-team field.

In the women’s bracket, all six pools are led by teams from the top 11 seeds, including: No. 1 Kelly Claes/Sara Hughes (USC, Pool A); No. 11 Anika Wilson/Deahna Kraft (Pepperdine, Pool B); No. 3 Delaney Knudsen/Madalyn Roh (Pepperdine, Pool C); No. 10 Rachel Nieto/Kobi Pekich (Long Beach State, Pool D); No. 5 Corinne Quiggle/Brittany Howard (Pepperdine, Pool E); and No. 7 McKenna Witt/Madison Witt (Arizona, Pool F).

The men’s pools feature two ties in the three-team abbreviated Pool A. Two teams sitting at 1-0 after the first day: Lucas Yoder/Michael Saeta (USC/UC Irvine); and Louis Richard/Matt Butler (Long Beach State). In Pool B, UCLA’s Jackson Bantle/Hagen Smith are tied for tops, 2-0, with UC Irvine’s Reid Dominguez/Dillon Hoffman. In Pool C, Hawaii’s Brett Rosenmeier/Colton Cowell lead the way at 2-0.

Pool play for the women finishes on Friday at 10:30 a.m. PT. The men’s pool play action will conclude at 12 p.m. PT. Starting at noon the women, followed by the men, will have a play-in matches. The women for two spots into the round of 16 and the men for the fourth quarterfinal spot. The women will play through the round of 16 and quarterfinals on Friday, the men through the quarterfinals.

ABOUT THE EVENT
The top two teams out of each men’s pool will advance, the highest of the third-place finishers (according to point ratio) will advance. A play-in match will be played between the next two third-place finishers based on point ratio for the final single-elimination bracket spot.

In women’s play, there are six pools of four teams. At the conclusion of pool play, the top two of each pool will advance to single elimination. The two highest of the third-place pool finishers, based on their point ratio, will advance; the 3rd-6th ranked of the third-place pool finishers will play play-in matches to earn the final two Rd of 16 spots.

The USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships is the first stop of the Team USA Summer Champions Series, presented by Comcast. The women’s final will air live on NBCSN at 6 p.m. ET on May 13. The men’s final will air taped delayed after the women’s match. The winners of the event will earn a spot on a USAV collegiate beach national team, which competes throughout the U.S. and abroad at FIVB events.

Athletes

SeedWOMEN
Player 1Player 2School
1Kelly ClaesSara HughesSouthern California
2Jessalyn KinlawMegan RiceFlorida Atlantic
3Delaney KnudsenMadalyn RohPepperdine
4Terese CannonNicolette MartinSouthern California
5Corinne QuiggleBrittany HowardPepperdine
6Victoria ParanaguaVanessa FreireFlorida State
7McKenna WittMadison WittArizona
8Jenna BeltonJo KremerSouthern California
9Abril BustamanteJoy DennisSouthern California
10Rachel NietoKobi PekichLong Beach State
11Anika WilsonDeahna KraftPepperdine
12Lindsey KnudsenPayton RundSaint Mary’s College (CA)
13Kamila TanJordan AndersonUCLA
14Sarah SponcilSavannah SlatteryLoyola Marymount
15Lily JustineMadi YeomansUCLA
16Leigh AndrewBrooke KuhlmanFlorida State
17Delaney RohanChelsea RossGeorgia State
18Claire CoppolaKristen NussLSU
19Macie TendrichKatie ZimmermanSouth Carolina
20Katie SmithAdrianna CulbertSouth Carolina
21Olivia PowersKatie LindelowLSU
22Crissy JonesTia ScambrayWashington
23Amy NealJaelyn GreeneTCU
24Hannah HubbardEmily SonnyCal Poly
SeedMEN
Player 1Player 2School
1Lucas YoderMichael SaetaSouthern California/UC Irvine
2Jackson BantleHagen SmithUCLA
3Nathan Vander MeerLogan WebberDavenport/Cincinnati Christian
4Grant FriedmanScott StadickUC Irvine
5Reid DominguezDillon HoffmanUC Irvine
6Louis RichardMatt ButlerLong Beach State
7Tyler HedleyVincent PizzutiPalomar College/Long Beach State
8Brian RossBobby CostiganSacred Heart
9Alex VohlandBrett CooperMount St. Joseph
10Brett RosenmeierColton CowellHawaii
11Matthew YoshimotoJake WalengaLewis

Related Links
USOC For Jackson Bantle and Hagen Smith, Collegiate Beach Championships is event they’ve been waiting for

Florida Atlantic Athletics Kinlaw and Rice drop two at the USAV Collegiate Beach Championships

Georgia State Athletics Rohan and Ross to represent Panthers at USAV Championships
LMU Athletics Sponcil, Slattery 1-1 on day one
LSU Athletics Beach pairs start strong to open up USAV Championships
Pepperdine Atheltics Waves undefeated to open USAV pairs championships
UCLA Athletics Bruins at inaugural collegiate beach pairs championships
Washington Athletics Jones And Scambray split on day one at USA pairs
USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships well contested on day one