NCAA seashore volleyball: TAMUCC on the rise; Pac-12 South assessment; one other massive week forward

Because the NCAA seashore volleyball season rolls into its fourth week, we take an in-depth have a look at ladder-climbing mid-major Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, assessment the fallout from the flamable Pac-12 South Invitational and preview the East Meets West Invitational on Manhattan seashore, the place Southern invaders Florida State and LSU might want to make waves.  

Islanders on the uptick

After consecutive Southland Convention titles, incomes automated bids to the final two NCAA Seaside Championships, Coach Gayle Stammer’s Texas A&M-Corpus Christi program has bumped its head on — gotta do it — the grass ceiling.

As March Insanity looms in basketball, people filling out event brackets quickly will sort out the problem of selecting between mid-major underdogs vs. the same old suspects in these confounded 5 vs. 12 and 6 vs. 11 video games.

Seaside volleyball isn’t there fairly but, however pure odds dictate that ultimately a crew not named USC or UCLA will win the nationwide title.

In the meantime, in a younger sport outlined by a handful of perennial “haves,” a number of lengthy pictures and numerous “have nots,” a program on an upward trajectory such because the Islanders from Corpus Christi craves the one or two vital upsets that may assist get it previous the “hyphen” or that unwieldy alphabet-soup branding of “TAMUCC.”

Affected person constructing over 5 largely forgettable seasons by Stammer has put her Islanders within the catbird seat of the Southland, which grew to eight members with the addition of startup McNeese State. In 2022, TAMUCC was 21-12, and gained the league event earlier than shedding to 3-0 to TCU within the eight-dual “knockout” spherical of the NCAA’s hybrid championship.

Final season, the Islanders improved to 25-10, knocked off higher-profile packages in Arizona and Florida Gulf Coast, rolled by means of the convention tourney and beat Ohio Valley Convention champion Tennessee-Martin within the play-in recreation to the 16-team single-elimination NCAA bracket. A 3-0 loss to UCLA ended the promising marketing campaign.

After three weekends of the 2024 season, TAMUCC is 10-3, the losses coming to resurgent Cal Poly 4-1, perennial energy LSU 4-1 and Tulane 3-2. The Islanders maintain a 4-1 victory over the Inexperienced Wave, who’re 10-4, and took three matches out of 5 towards Large West member UC Davis (6-6, 20-12 in 2023).

“That is my third ‘construct’ as a coach and also you’ve bought to undergo numerous shedding early on as you might be recruiting and laying the inspiration,” the veteran Stammer advised us this week. “By way of that, I’ve realized learn how to ‘promote the dream.’ You’re simply promoting the dream, promoting the dream and hastily, you’re in the midst of it.“

Stammer had been teaching indoor ball at Division-II Dominican College of California in San Rafael, however when she noticed the sand sport gaining its legs on the collegiate degree, “I knew I’d pop on over to the seashore as a result of that was how I might finest develop the sport. I used to be assured that if I might get in a very good state of affairs early, with a completely funded program, completely separate from indoor, that I might construct one thing and do it comparatively shortly.”

In a locale with the pure benefit of beautiful white sand seashores, she discovered herself “in heaven,”  in Corpus Christi, inhabitants 316,000, on Texas’ Gulf Coast, and never simply from a volleyball perspective.

“It’s stunning. There’s no one on the seashore. It’s by no means crowded. I’ve not seen visitors since I’ve been right here,” stated Stammer, who performed at LSU, professionally in Italy after which loved a productive skilled profession on the seashore in the course of the Nineteen Nineties as a main-draw staple of the defunct Girls’s Skilled Volleyball Affiliation tour.

“The standard of life is wonderful. I find it irresistible.”

Whereas the Islanders have cleaned up towards the groups they’re speculated to beat, recognition within the type of a top-20 rating within the weekly AVCA seashore coaches ballot has not come but, though they’re second amongst others receiving votes with six.

“Should you have a look at the TruVolley score, we’re seventeenth on that listing. It’s based mostly on statistics, not on opinions,” Stammer stated. “When (TV analyst) Holly McPeak was doing her listing of the groups not ranked within the prime 20, we had been in that. Final season within the (AVCA) coaches ballot, we didn’t get any votes in any respect, not one vote. After which after the nationwide event, we acquired 10 votes within the final rating.”

Stammer conceded that her Islanders may get seen, “if we develop the place we’re going. I advised my AD that we have to get out to California extra. I really feel like folks aren’t seeing us.

“How are the coaches going to vote for us if all they see are outcomes? I’m a mid-major. It’s only a actuality that the entire conferences aren’t equally weighted.”

TAMUCC may collect extra momentum throughout a Northern California highway journey this weekend towards Stanford and North Florida in Palo Alto on Friday, adopted by matches with Utah and host San Jose State (a Southland member) on Saturday. A aggressive displaying towards the highly effective Cardinal and three within the wins column can be a robust consequence. North Florida just about is in the identical “rising-mid-major” boat because the Islanders.

Giving Stammer nice hope for the longer term has been the play on the No. 1 courtroom of 5-foot-11 Kristin Bobay (the Southland freshman of the yr in 2023) and 5-foot-10 Madison Morrow (a portal acquisition from Stephen F. Austin), each sophomores.

“So we’ve bought two sophomores on the 1s and so they’re actually good,” Stammer stated. “Madison was among the best gamers at SFA, the place she was a blocker, however for us she’s a full-time defender.”

Stephanie Younger, a 6-foot grad switch from Florida Atlantic, has been a boon to the Islanders’ lineup and 5-foot-10 junior defender Hannah Doyle has gone 11-2 on Courtroom 3, scoring the crew’s solely level in the course of the loss to Cal Poly whereas paired with Aussie Cassie Dodd.

A 6-foot-2 freshman, Dodd is a member of the Australian Volleyroos indoor nationwide crew and posted a top-10 end within the 2022 under-19 world seashore championships. Lending a veteran presence has been grad pupil Chloe Tome, the Southland’s newcomer of the yr final season. Dodd and Tome had been the Islanders’ lone point-scoring pair towards LSU.

Sizzling duals within the desert

In its last go-around as a league, the Pac-12 positioned seven of its 9 seashore packages within the newest weekly AVCA coaches prime 20 ballot, sitting first, second, third, sixth, eleventh, 14th and nineteenth. The parity among the many prime 5 groups in a stacked “Convention of Champions” was once more mirrored within the outcomes final weekend in the course of the three-day Pac-12 South Invitational in Tempe, Arizona.

UCLA (11-4) dropped a 3-2 determination to Stanford, however gained each match in duals towards host Arizona State, Washington and Oregon. The Bruins dropped a spot to No. 2 within the rankings after shedding for the second time in three outings to the Cardinal. Stanford (10-2), nevertheless, was a 3-2 sufferer on the Solar Devils’ dwelling sand, then defeated California 5-0 and swept Oregon, which departed the desert with a 1-11 file and was 1-for-41 in units over its 20 matches. The ballot voters moved the Cardinal to 3rd from second.

Cal (9-3) was elevated from sixth to seventh on the strengths of a 3-2 victory over Arizona State, and sweeps towards Utah (6-6 total and 0-4 on the weekend) and the toothless Beavers.

The Solar Devils (8-2) picked up that noteworthy victory over Stanford and likewise hung a 3-2 loss on rival Arizona. Arizona State moved down one spot to eleventh, however their prime pair of Daniella Kensinger and Anya Pemberton, who went 3-1, had been honored because the Pac-12 pair of the week. Straight-sets scores by Kensinger and Pemberton had been instrumental of their crew’s triumphs over Stanford and Arizona (8-3), which stayed at No. 19 regardless of a 1-3 mark, the lone “W” coming by a 3-2 margin over the Utes.

Remaining at No. 14 was Washington (5-7), which cut up its 4 checks and topped Arizona 4-1.

So who’s on first?

After being the one crew to keep away from getting burned on desert sand, three-time defending NCAA champion USC (12-2) vaulted again into the No. 1 spot. The Girls of Troy had been spotless in 4 victories over Washington, Arizona, Utah and Oregon, with solely two matches, each towards the Wildcats, going to 3rd units. Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple dominated the highest courtroom with 4 sweeps and a median set rating of 21-13.

Across the nation

No. 4 Florida State is the one undefeated squad left within the AVCA Prime 20. The Seminoles ran their file to 13-0 on Tuesday in Boca Raton, tuning up for this weekend’s East Meets West Invitational on storied Manhattan Seaside. with victories over No. 16 Florida Atlantic and Florida Gulf Coast, all matches gained in sweeps. Additionally within the Capri Basic tri-dual, the host Owls (9-4) topped FGCU (9-7) 3-2.

Final weekend within the Tampa Invitational, FSU blew by means of host Tampa (ranked twentieth at 7-7), Florida Gulf Coast, Coastal Carolina and Houston Christian, all by 5-0 counts. FGCU’s Shelby Biesner and Trinity Rosales gave the Seminoles’ undefeated pair of Maddie Anderson and Skyler Germann fairly a three-set tussle on the No. 1 courtroom, with the tiebreaker going to a 30-28 rating.

Sarah Riedell and Norwegian nationwide Martine Kragholm of Coastal Carolina (6-6) took three out of 4 on the 1s (falling solely to Anderson-Germann) because the Chanticleers went 2-2, incomes them pair-of-the-week accolades from the Solar Belt Convention.

By working the desk towards nationally ranked Loyola Marymount, Florida Worldwide and Stetson (plus Southern Miss) at its hometown Seaside Invitational, Lengthy Seaside State made a good impression on the pollsters. Coach Mike Campbell’s fast-rising Seaside bunch climbed to No. 7, then added to their resume with home-sand victories on Wednesday towards No. 15 Georgia State 4-1 and No. 17 Grand Canyon 5-0. Georgia State (9-4) additionally topped Grand Canyon (4-6) 4-1, with three of the match victories needing three units.

No. 10 Loyola Marymount (7-6) rode a see-saw within the weekend Lengthy Seaside occasion, shedding to the host squad and Florida Worldwide by 3-2 scores whereas sweeping the courts towards No. 18 Stetson (7-5) and Southern Miss. FIU’s Giada Bianchi and Reka Orsi Toth had been named the AVCA’s nationwide pair of the week with 4 victories on the No. 1 courtroom because the No. 12 Owls (9-2) additionally beat Santa Clara 4-1 whereas shedding 4-1 to the Seaside and 3-2 to No. 9 Cal Poly (10-2), which went 4-0.

No. 13 Hawaii (6-5) gained traction for the East Meets West with a first-place undefeated end in its six-team Queen’s Cup event, together with a 3-2 victory over Boise State (11-6) within the last. The BeachBows’ Jamie Santer and juco switch Alana Embry had been unbeaten on the 1s and thumped the Broncos’ Marlayna Bullington and Sierra Land by a 42-24 margin within the championship twin. Santer and Embry had been picked because the occasion’s excellent pair and the Large West honored them as its pair of the week.

No. 5 TCU (11-1) gained 4 duals by an 18–2 margin throughout its Horned Frog Problem in Fort Price. Hailey Hamlett and Angelina Khmil are 12-0 on the 1s and have been pushed to a few units as soon as.

Elsewhere, North Florida (9-3) threw a monkey wrench into South Carolina’s plans with a 3-2 victory over the hosts within the Gamecock Problem, profitable on the 2s, 4s and 5s. The Ospreys have created some curb attraction. The Gamecocks (7-5) completed 3-1. … North Carolina-Wilmington (8-2) put collectively a 4-1 mark at Cal State Bakersfield’s ‘Runner Invite, splitting duals with Cal State Northridge (7-4). The host Roadrunners (7-6) had been 3-3. … North Alabama (9-3) gained all 4 duals in its UNA Invitational. … With its 5s duo of indoor crossovers Natalie Mitchem and Masyn Navvaro incomes two victories and the pair-of-the-week award from the Ohio Valley Convention, Jap Illinois (3-3) eked out a doubleheader at McKendree 3-2, 3-2.

Click on right here for the full AVCA coaches ballot.

This week’s schedule

This weekend’s marquee occasions, each falling on Friday and Saturday, are the East Meets West Invitational on the most venerable sand in American seashore volleyball, Manhattan Seaside, California, and the Florida Atlantic Invitational on Pompano Seaside, which brings collectively USC and TCU.

The West facet of the lineup in Southern California has UCLA, Loyola Marymount, California and Hawaii. The East groups are FSU, LSU, Georgia State and free-falling Grand Canyon. Because the West Coast powers have taken turns buying and selling haymakers with one another, Florida State has waited within the weeds for its alternative to strike. This weekend might very properly be the Seminoles’ coming-out get together.

On the heels of saying a five-player freshman recruiting class for 2025 that features the daughter of a Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame inductee, LSU (8-1) additionally has a chance so as to add vital bullet factors on its resume.

The eighth-ranked Bayou Bengals’ solely blemish is a 3-2 setback to TCU. Coming into Coach Russell Brock’s program subsequent season out of Miami will probably be Zoe Taylor, whose dad, Jason, was a six-time Professional Bowl defensive finish throughout a stellar 15-year NFL profession. Zoe has two older brothers taking part in faculty soccer, Isaiah at Arizona and Mason at LSU.

In the meantime on the gleaming white coral sand of Florida’s East Coast, juggernaut prime pairs collide when USC’s Kraft-Maple and TCU’s Hamlett-Khmil sq. off. Additionally within the FAU invite’s tantalizing lineup are the host Owls, Florida Worldwide (with Bianchi-Orsi Toth) and D-II Palm Seaside Atlantic (9-6), which comes off a 3-1 weekend at Eckerd’s Battle on the Bay that included a 3-2 victory over Missouri State (11-2).

Stetson will get every week to recharge, welcoming North Alabama, North Carolina-Wilmington, Jacksonville and Faculty of Charleston to DeLand, Florida, for its Spring Invitational.

Stanford has tri-dual dwelling dates on Friday (towards North Florida and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) and on Monday (towards San Francisco and Saint Mary’s). Transferring down the bay, on Saturday and Sunday six groups certainly will understand how to the Sand Jose Invitational (get it?). The sector has host San Jose State, Saint Mary’s, Utah, Sacramento State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (on Saturday towards North Florida and Utah) and Sierra Faculty (a two-year college in exhibitions on Sunday).

Second-year program Texas will make its debut below Coach Stein Metzger in a six-team occasion at Lengthy Seaside Metropolis Faculty on Saturday and Sunday. Becoming a member of the Longhorns are Nebraska (in a rematch of the 2023 NCAA indoor championship match), host Lengthy Seaside State, Arizona, Pepperdine and Cal State Northridge.

Southeastern Louisiana’s Sugar Seaside Bash on Friday and Saturday will welcome Boise State, South Carolina, Tulane and Alabama-Birmingham.