The 2026 NCAA Beach Season is Winding Down
What a ultra competitive season it has shaped up to be. Several records were set this past season at several schools, by several of the top beach volleyball athletes in the nation. The regular season has come to a close, and the 2026 postseason is officially here. Conference championship tournaments are happening all this week. Not only will the winners have bragging rights for their conference, they’ll lock in an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship –
MPSF Championship Thoughts…
Stanford and UCLA have been back and forth at the #1 all season long. Both teams will be competing in Huntington Beach, CA at the MPSF Championships. Also, the #3 ranked beach program in the nation, the Texas Longhorns and another team that’s been top 5 most of the 2026 Beach Season, USC Trojans ranked #5 (as of this posting) – will all battle for the MPSF Champion title.
The MPSF may be the toughest conference for beach volleyball this season. As the #8 beach program, the California Bears, the #11 Grand Canyon Lopes, #13 LSU Tigers, and the #20 Washington Huskies, will Also be in Huntington Beach. In total, 8 out of the top 20 ranked teams in the nation, will be in this 3 day tournament, to close out their season. Should be a really good one!
Up the road (about an hour), in Santa Monica CA, the West Coast Conference (WCC) is hosting their championship tournament.
Favorite, Loyola Marymount (LMU), has had a solid season, coming into the WCC currently ranked 7th in the country.
Further up but still in Southern Cal, will be the Big West Championship, in San Louis Obispo. Long Beach State comes in ranked 10th in the nation, and is the #2 seed in that tournament. They’re aiming to meet Cal Poly, the #1 seed – ranked 6th in the nation; for a rematch from last year. For LBSU that task starts against Hawaii, who also had a good year – ranked 16th in the nation.
We had a chance to see quite a few of these teams this season. There is so much talent in beach volleyball right now. Anyone of these teams can win their conference championship. Don’t be surprised if there are a few upsets, in what should be an entertaining close to the 2026 NCAA beach season.
Despite only one guaranteed slot for the winner of the MPSF, I can foresee several teams from this conference making the final cut, on selection Sunday for the NCAA’s. The tension is building already, and conference championships haven’t even started yet!
On the 3c2A front: Did not get to cover as much as usual –
My personal schedule this year, just did not permit me to get out and cover as much of the 3C2A as we normally do. Thank you to all who are subscribing, as it will translate into even more coverage of this exciting sport, at all of it’s levels of adult competition. From reading the news however, it looks like Long Beach City had another strong year. Several of their pairs qualified for State. We most likely won’t be able to cover any of that, but we wish all of the athletes competing, the best!
There is a lot of talent playing at the 3C2A Level.
We were there to see many who’ve moved up to DI and DII – contributing to their respective beach teams. Athletes like Liv Medina and Ashley Rossi, who we saw while at Santa Barbara College. This past weekend, they both won the DII Beach National Championship, for Concordia University Irvine. Also, Alana Embry, who went from dominating the 3C2A’s at Grossmont to competing for both Hawaii and now, USC.
Congratulations to all of the athletes who left it on the sand this past season. You’re the reason this sport continues to grow, bigger and more competitive, each year! Stay tuned for an exciting last couple of weeks, let us know in the comments below, who you see Winning! Who’s taking their conference? Which east coast beach teams do we need to watch for? Can any of them beat any of the teams in the MPSF? – stay tuned – thanks for dropping by!!
