The AVCA National Championship Selection Committee announced in Lexington, Kentucky, that Pepperdine University, Long Beach State University, University of Southern California, University of North Florida, Florida State University and the University of Louisiana-Monroe have been selected to compete in the second Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championship. The event will be held in Gulf Shores, Alabama, May 3-5 and will also feature a sixteen team Pairs Championship. The Pairs field includes the top duos from the schools in the team competition as well as ten doubles teams identified as the ‘Best of the Rest’ from schools not in the team competition. Pairs were selected from Georgia State University, University of California/Los Angeles, Florida International University, the University of Alabama/Birmingham, the University of the Pacific, Jacksonville University, Loyola Marymount University and Saint Mary’s College of California. All participants in the Championships were selected based on results from the collegiate sand volleyball season which began in March.
CBS Sports Network will televise portions of the competition in three hour-long specials beginning on Tuesday, May 21 (7:00 PM, ET). A complete telecast schedule is listed below.
“The growth of collegiate sand volleyball has been remarkable,” said AVCA Executive Director, Kathy DeBoer. “and CBS Sports Network has been there every step of the way,”
The event returns to Gulf Shores, Alabama, the site of the inaugural championships in 2012. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism lead a group of community partners that includes the Gulf Coast Region of USA Volleyball, the city, and several local businesses in producing a winning bid to retain the championships through 2015.
“We are so excited to once again play a part in hosting this incredible collegiate competition on the beautiful beaches of Gulf Shores, AL,” said Beth Gendler, Vice-President of Sales for Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism. “This event gives the athletes a great beach to compete on and gives us the opportunity to show people from around the country what we have to offer.
"Combine world-class beaches with a hard-working and dedicated community and you have a formula for success,” said Philip Bryant, Commissioner of the Gulf Coast Region. “A year ago we set as our goal to win this event going forward and now we are determined to make the championships a bigger and better event every year!"
The Team Championship will be held on Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4. Each school fields five doubles teams ranked in order and plays the corresponding pair from an opponent. The team-versus-team matches are decided by the school winning three of the five flights. Play starts at 9 a.m. CT on five championship courts that have been constructed specifically for this event. The teams have been seeded one through six with Pepperdine earning the number one spot. The Team Championship will consist of nine school-versus-school matchups over the two days with the finals beginning at 3:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 4.
The Pairs Championship will begin with the ten Best of the Rest duos engaged in pool play on Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4. The top two finishers will be seeded into Sunday’s 16-team single elimination bracket. Ten pairs from the team championship squads will advance automatically Sunday’s Championship bracket. The last two positions will be determined by a play in on Saturday afternoon. First round matches in the Pairs Championship will start at 8 a.m. CT on Sunday, May 5. The semi-finals, scheduled to start at noon, and the championship match, slated for 2 p.m. will be covered by CBS Sports Network.
CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, and to access the CBS Sports Network channel finder, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.
Team Championship Schedule (All Times Central Daylight):
Friday, May 3
9:00 a.m. #4 USC v. #5 North Florida
10:00 a.m. #3 Florida State v. #6 Louisiana-Monroe
12:00 p.m. #1 Pepperdine v. Winner #4/#5
1:00 p.m. #2 LBSU v. Winner #3/#6
4:00 p.m. Loser #4/#5 v. Loser of 1:00 p.m. match
5:00 p.m. Loser #3/#6 v. Loser of 12:00 p.m. match
Saturday, May 4
11:00 a.m. Semi-Final #1
12:00 p.m. Semi-Final #2
3:30 p.m. Championship Match
Best of the Rest Schedule (All Times Central Daylight):
Pool play matches at 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 3 and 9:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 4; Play-in match at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, May 4
Pool A (Names of Players/School)
1. Lane Carico/Katie Madewell (Georgia State)
2. Kelly Reeves/Meg Norton (UCLA)
3. Jessica Mendoza/Maryna Samoday (Florida International)
4. Bethanie Thomas/Kiriana Hirini (UAB)
5. Hannah Clancy/Katarina Schulz (Pacific)
Pool B (Names of Players/School)
1. Sammie Strausbaugh/Taylor Nyquist (Jacksonville)
2. Kate Stepanova/Ksenia Sukhareva (Florida International)
3. Felicia Arriola/Litara Keil (Loyola Marymount)
4. Dalas Dodd/Jordan Shaw (Saint Mary’s College)
5. Zoe Nightingale/Becca Strehlow (UCLA)
CBS Sports Network Programming Schedule:
Tuesday, May 21
7:00-8:00 PM, ET: Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championship
8:00-9:00 PM, ET: Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championship
Tuesday, May 28
8:00-9:00 PM, ET: Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championship
About Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Sports Commission: Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Sports Commission is a partnership between Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism, the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce and the cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. In 2007, this commission became a department within Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism. In this role, the commission - along with assistance from both cities – works to bring quality sporting events to Alabama’s Gulf Coast. Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism is an official corporate sponsor of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). For information, please visit www.gulfshoresorangebeachsports.com.
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