UCLA Beach Volleyball Looks to Avoid Elimination Today

After losing to Florida State in Dual #7 yesterday, the UCLA Beach Volleyball team looks to stave off elimination today. To prevent that, the Bruins will need to first defeat the LSU Tigers in Dual #10.

The #7 seeded Tigers lost their Dual #3 to Pepperdine yesterday, 3-0, to fall into the Elimination Bracket. LSU then won its elimination match against South Carolina, 3-1, to advance to this afternoon’s match against the Bruins.

Assuming the Bruins dispose of the Tigers, UCLA will advance to play the winner of Dual #9 between Southern Cal and Pepperdine. The Trojans lost their opening dual to Florida State, 3-1, which sent them to the Elimination Bracket, where they edged Florida International, 3-2, to advance to Dual #9 against the Waves.

The Waves, on the other hand, won their opening dual against LSU, 3-0, but lost to Hawai’i in Dual #8, which sent them to the Elimination Bracket to face the Trojans.

It’s hard for me to determine exactly what happened to the Bruins yesterday against Florida State. It was a complete breakdown on four of the five courts. Frankly, the Seminoles completely dominated the Bruins on each of the courts except court #1 where the McNamara twins won UCLA’s only point.

It looked like the Bruins who faced Florida State was a completely different team from the one which swept Florida International to open play yesterday morning. I don’t know if the early start time for the first match left the Bruins tired by the time the Florida State dual came up or if FSU was just better prepared to face UCLA.

One thing is for sure. If the Bruins have another dual like the FSU dual, they will be headed home earlier than planned.

This is your NCAA Beach Volleyball Tournament open thread.


Go Bruins!