Southern California wins the 2021 college beach volleyball championship (2024)

Southern Cal is the 2021 college beach volleyball national champion after defeating UCLA 3-1. USC did notgive up more than one dual point in any match this tournament. Watch the championship match highlights here.

This is the Trojans' third NCAA title. The Bruins had won the two previous national titles in 2018 and 2019.

Tap or click here to view every NCAA beach volleyball champion.

USC and UCLA were tied 1-1 heading into the final three matches of the day. USC'spairing ofTina Graudina and Megan Kraft shifted the momentum toward the Trojans with its 2-0 victoryover UCLA's pairing of Savvy Simo and Lexy Denaburg. On Court 2, USC's pairing of Julia Scoles and Sammy Slater upended UCLA's pairing of Lea Monkhouse and Devon Newberry to clinch the national championship.

National Championship No. 3 secured! 🏆#NCAABeachVB x @USCBeach pic.twitter.com/AiDNUEsZu9

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) May 9, 2021

Here's how USCbeat UCLA:

• USC — Hallgren/Harwarddef.Sparks/Van Winkle, 2-0
• UCLA — Powers/Whitmarsh def.Nourse/Nourse, 2-0
• USC —Graudina/Kraftdef.Simo/Denaburg, 2-0
• USC — Scoles/Slater def. Monkhouse/Newberry, 2-0

Click or tap here for the interactive bracket

On Court 1, USC's pairing ofTina Graudina and Megan Kraft took the first set over UCLA's pairing of Savvy Simo and Lexy Denaburg.

UCLA's pairing of Megan Muret and Jacqueline Quade defeated USC's pairing of Joy Dennis and Delaynie Maple in the first set on Court 4, andUSC's pairing of Julia Scoles and Sammy Slater and UCLA's pairing of Lea Monkhouse and Devon Newberry in the first set on Court 2.

Follow along here for more updates from the 2021 college beach volleyball championship.

Here are the match scores after the final three opening sets:

• USC —Graudina/Kraftdef.Simo/Denaburg, 21-16
• UCLA —Muret/Quadedef.Dennis/Maple, 24-22
• USC — Scoles/Slater def. Monkhouse/Newberry, 26-24

And herearetoday's live stats:

The score is tied 1-1 after USC's No. 3 pairing of HaleyHallgren and Hailey Harward and UCLA's No. 5 pairing of RileighPowersand Jaden Whitmarsh won their matches, 2-0.ForHarward/Hallgren, it was theirfirst dual point of the championship while UCLA'sNo. 3pairing of LindseySparks and Abby Van Winklewere dealt their first loss. Sparks and Van Winkle end their 2021 tournamentholding a share of the record for most wins by a pair in one tournament (5).

OMG @haileyharward 🤯#NCAABeachVB x 🎥 @USCBeach pic.twitter.com/S0fHic0eYt

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) May 9, 2021

Court 5 ended in a nail-biter with UCLA edging USC, 25-23.

Follow along here for more updates from the 2021 college beach volleyball championship.

Herearetoday's live stats:

Southern Cal and UCLA openedthe national championship with USC's No. 3 pairsHallgren and Harward and UCLA's No. 5 pairs Powers and Whitmarsh winning their first sets.

Follow along here for more updates from the 2021 college beach volleyball championship.

Here are the match scores after the first two opening sets:

• USC– Hallgren/Harwarddef.Sparks/Van Winkle, 21-14
• UCLA – Powers/Whitmarsh def.Nourse/Nourse, 21-13

And herearetoday's live stats:

UCLA looks to win back-to-back-to-back beach volleyball national championships when the Bruins take on Southern Cal for the 2021 title at 1:30 p.m. ET. UCLA beat LMU 3-0 earlier today to advance to the title game. Here's what you need to know:

No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 2 USC| 1:30 p.m. | Watch live

And herearetoday's live stats:

Click or tap here for the interactive bracket

Two-time defending champions and top-rankedUCLA advances to the championship dual against Southern Cal after sweeping LMU 3-0, avenging an earlier loss. Watch the match highlights here.

Among the highlights of the morning dual, Abby Van Winkle and Lindsey Sparks tied the record for most wins by a pair at a single championship.

Catch the national championship dual between UCLA and Southern Cal at 1:30 p.m. ET.Watch live

Click or tap here for the interactive bracket

We've reached the final two matches of the 2021 NC beach volleyball championship. By the end of today, a champion will be crowned. Whether that's a three-peat, returning or first-timer champion will be determined on the sand, so you're not going to want to miss a second of the action. Here's what you need to know

• No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 5 Loyola Marymount | 10 a.m. | Watch live
• No. 2 USC vs. UCLA/LMU | 1:30 p.m. | Watch live

And herearetoday's live stats:

No. 1 UCLA and No. 5 Loyola Marymount take the court first at 10 a.m. ET in the contender's bracket. The Bruins are the two-time defending champions, but the road hasn't been easy in 2021. LMU dealt UCLA an early tournament loss, forcing this year's top seed to battle through the elimination bracket.

Click or tap here for the interactive bracket

Speaking of those Lions, the tournament's No. 5 seed remained on the winner's side of the bracket for three matches, earning their first win of the year over UCLA in round 2 after dropping the first three duals. LMU is the only team left that has never won a beach volleyballtitle, but the Lions have already showed they've got what it takes to take down a championship-caliber team. The question is, can they take down two in one day?

The winner of the day's opening match will get USC in the championship match. The No. 2 seed Trojans navigated through the winner's bracket unbeaten, dropping just two dualpoints in three matches. Like UCLA, USC has plenty of experience playing at the end of this tournament. It won the first two championships in 2016 and 2017 and lost to the Bruins in the 2019 finals.

The 2021 NC beach volleyball championship continues tomorrowat 10a.m. ET with a semifinal showdown between No. 1 UCLA and No. 5 LMU. The winner will advance to the title game against No. 2 Southern Cal at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Yesterday's actionstarted in the elimination bracket as LSU sent Florida State home winning 3-1. The Tigers were anchored by their No. 1 pair of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth — a pair who hasn't lost all season. Nuss and Kloth gave LSU the win after knocking off FSU's Morgan Chacon and Maddie Anderson 2-1.

No. 1 UCLA then bounced back from their upset loss against No. 5 LMU on Friday, sweeping No. 7 Cal Poly 3-0. The No. 5 pair ofRileigh Powers and Jaden Whitmarsh solidified the Bruins win.

In the third match of the day, No. 2 Southern Cal booked the first spot in the national championship dual, after defeating No. 5 Loyola Marymount 3-1. LMU will now face No. 1 UCLA for a spot in the title match.

The final match of the day was athriller between No. 1 UCLA and No.4 LSU. The Bruins prevailed over the Tigers thanks to the No. 5 pairingof Jaden Whitmarsh and Rileigh Powers winning 2-1.

Here are all of the results from Day 2 of the NC beach volleyball championship:

• Elimination bracket —No. 4 LSU def. No. 3 Florida State 3-1
• Elimination bracket —No. 1 UCLA def.No. 7 Cal Poly 3-0
• Winner's bracket —No. 2 USC def.No. 5 LMU 3-1
• Elimination bracket — No. 1 UCLA def. No. 4 LSU 3-2

You can click or tap here for a look at the interactive bracket.

This is the schedule for the final day of the championship:

• No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 5 Loyola Marymount | 10a.m. | ESPN2
• No. 2 Southern Cal vs. winner of UCLA/LMU | 1:30 p.m. | ESPN2

After UCLA and LSU went back in forth in pairings 1-4, UCLA's No. 5 pairingof Jaden Whitmarsh and Rileigh Powers beat LSU's duoof Kahlee York and Olivia Ordonez in five sets to advance the Bruins into the next round.

U👏C👏L👏A👏

(1) @uclabeachvb is back into the semifinals once again, denying (4) LSU, 3-2 (C4 0-2, C2 2-0, C1 0-2, C3 2-0, C5 2-1) as all five courts played to completion.#NCAABeachVB pic.twitter.com/DflYmUVFUA

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) May 8, 2021

UCLA will face No. 5 LMU — a team that beat the Bruins lost to earlier in the tournament. The winner of that match will face No. 2 Southern Cal in the national championship match.

Here's how UCLAbeat LSU:

• LSU: Kloth/Nussdef. Simo Denaburg; 2-0
• UCLA: Monkhouse/Newberry def. Coppola/Green-Agnew; 2-0
• UCLA:Sparks/Van Winkle def. Rodriquez/Rasnick-Pope; 2-0
• LSU: Lansman/Moore def. Muret/Quade; 2-0
• Powers/Whitmarsh def. Ordonez/York; 2-1

No. 2 Southern Cal cruised past No. 5 Loyola Marymount to be the first team to book a spot in the NC beach volleyball national title match. The Trojans knocked off LMU behind wins from No. 1 pair Tina Graudina and Megan Kraft, No. 2 pair Sammy Slater and Julia Scoles and No. 5 pair Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse. All three pairs won 2-0. The Lions didn't go down without a fight though, taking home the victory between theNo. 3 pairs, 2-0.

LMU will move to the elimination bracket to await the winner of tonight's match between No. 1 UCLA and No. 4 LSU. That match will take place at 10 a.m. ET on May 9. USC will then await the winner of that match.

Here's how Southern Cal beat Loyola Marymount:

• USC: Scoles/Slater def. Orsi Toth/Marolf; 2-0
• LMU: Prichard/Slattery def. Hallgren/Hawward; 2-0
• USC:Graudina/Kraft def. Lindahl/Rice; 2-0
• USC: A. Nourse/N. Noursedef.Doud/Firnett; 2-0

After being upset in the second round yesterday, No. 1 UCLA bounced back nicely and pulled off the 3-0 sweep against No. 7 Cal Poly. The Bruins were anchored by their No. 5 pair of Rileigh Powers and Jaden Whitmarsh who gave Cal Poly its final loss of the tournament. Powers and Whitmarsh won 2-0 (21-19, 21-18).

The BRU-WINS are moving on! 🐻#NCAABeachVB x @uclabeachvb pic.twitter.com/35pSebr8kL

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) May 8, 2021

UCLA will take on No. 4 LSU tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET. The Tigers are fresh off of a 3-1 victory over No. 3 Florida State. The loser of this match will be eliminated from the tournament.

Here's how UCLA beat Cal Poly:

• UCLA: Monkhouse/Newberry def. Ozee/Lombard; 2-0
• UCLA:Muret/Quade def.Strah/Johansen; 2-0
• UCLA: Powers/Whitmarsh def.Roscoe/Ulrich; 2-0

LSU has eliminated Florida State from the NC beach volleyball championship after winning 3-1. The Tigers were anchored by their No. 1 pair Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, who knocked off FSU's NO. 1 pair 2-1. Nuss and Kloth remain undefeated, as they haven't lost a match all season.

MOVING ON! 😤#NCAABeachVB x @LSUBeachVB pic.twitter.com/TTU7VJ1MMk

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) May 8, 2021

The Tigers will move on to face the winner of No. 7 Cal Poly and No. 1 UCLAlater today at 6:30 p.m. ET. LSU is still in the Elimination Bracket, so every match counts as the Tigers move through the tournament.

Here's how it happened:

• LSU: Kloth/Nuss def.Chacon/Anderson; 2-1
• FSU:Van Winden/Rutz def.Coppola/Greene-Agnew; 2-0
• LSU: Lansman/Moore def.Putt/White; 2-0
• LSU:Ordonez/York def.Johnson/Waters-Leiga; 2-0

The Lions roar past UCLA! 🦁#NCAABeachVB x @lmulionsBeach pic.twitter.com/T2CYQ2Bb2B

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) May 7, 2021

The first day of the 2021 NC beach volleyball tournament is complete, with No. 2 USC and No. 5 LMU both going 2-0 to set up a semifinal showdown on Saturday. In the Elimination Bracket, Saturday will open with Florida State vs. LSU and UCLA vs. Cal Poly.

LMU is the surprise of the tournament, as the No. 5 Lions beat No. 4 LSU and then upset No. 1 UCLA. No. 2 USC's path came down to wins against No. 7 Cal Poly and No. 3 Florida State.

You can click or tap here for a look at the interactive bracket.

Here's a rundown of the Friday scores, and when teams became eliminated:

• No. 1 UCLA 3, No. 8 TCU 0
• No. 5 LMU 3, No. 4 LSU 2
• No. 3 Florida State 3, No. 6 Stanford 0
• No. 2 USC 3, No. 7 Cal Poly 0
• No. 4 LSU 3, No. 8 TCU 1 (TCU eliminated)
• No. 7 Cal Poly 3, No. 6 Stanford 2 (Stanford eliminated)
• No. 5 LMU 3, No. 1 UCLA 2 (LMU advances to semifinals)
• No. 2 USC 3, No. 3 Florida State 1(USC advances to semifinals)

Here's what's ahead for Saturday. All times ET:

• No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 4 LSU (Elimination Game), 2 p.m. | ESPN2
• No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 7 Cal Poly (Elimination Game), 3:30 p.m. | ESPN2
• No. 2 USC vs. No. 5 LMU (winner advances to Sunday's national championship), 5 p.m. | ESPN2
• Florida State/LSU winner vs. UCLA/Cal Poly winner | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN2

😱 @edouud was all over this point!

📺 @ESPNU#NCAABeachVB x @lmulionsBeach pic.twitter.com/Enybmm8FUW

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) May 7, 2021

LMU, seeded No. 5, stunned No. 1 UCLA 3-2 to advance to the semifinals. The win drops the Bruins to the Elimination Bracket.

The Lions picked up wins at No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5 pairs, with the last pairing clinching the win. It was the only one to come down to a third set.

Here's how it happened:

• UCLA:Savvy Simo/Lexy Denaburgdef.Rice/Lindahl; 2-0
• LMU:Orsi Toth/Marolf def.Lea Monkhouse/Devon Newberry; 2-0
• UCLA:Abby Van Winkle/Lindsey Sparksdef.Prichard/Slattery; 2-0
• LMU:Dunn/Ramirez def.Megan Muret/Jacqueline Quade; 2-0
• LMU:Doud/Firnett def.Rileigh Powers/Jaden Whitmarsh; 2-1

SIX dual points for the first NCAA Tournament win in school history! 🤯#NCAABeachVB x @calpolybeach pic.twitter.com/cNdkNIhdu5

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) May 7, 2021

A thrilling win in the No. 5 pairs lifted No. 7 Cal Poly to its first dual victory in NCAA tournament history, as the Mustangs beat No. 6 Stanford 3-2. The Cardinal are eliminated.

Moments after Sanford won the third set in the No. 1 pairs, Cal Poly's Josie Ulrich and Vanessa Roscoe won the decisive third set in the No. 5 pairs to clinch the dual on their sixth dual point.

Cal Poly next plays Saturday at 3:30 p.m.