A History of the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship
The NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship is a tournament sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the national champions of collegiate women's beach volleyball. The championship was approved by the NCAA Convention during the fall of 2015, and a committee was selected to determine the tournament's organizational structure.
From Emerging Sport to Championship Status
Before 2015, sand volleyball had been part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program (which included women's ice hockey, bowling, rowing, and water polo in the past). As such, a separate championship had been contested annually, since 2012, by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Before 2012 several championships were televised by Collegiate Nationals.
Tournament Format and Evolution
The championship is held each May. From 2016 through 2021, eight teams participated, in a double-elimination style tournament with a single-elimination final, under standard beach volleyball rules. As of fall 2019, seven conferences sponsor beach volleyball, all with at least six members - the minimum number for a conference to qualify for an automatic bid to other NCAA championship tournaments. Five of these conferences were represented in the inaugural tournament; the exceptions are the Ohio Valley Conference and Southland Conference, both of which begin beach volleyball sponsorship in the upcoming 2020 season. From 2022 onwards, the championship tournament was expanded to 16 teams.
The tournament format has evolved from an eight-team, double-elimination field with a single-elimination final from 2016-2021. The 2025 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship features a single-elimination-only bracket for the second time, along with a 16-team field.
The 2025 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship
The 2025 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship (officially the 2025 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship) was an intercollegiate tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women's beach volleyball national champion for the 2024-25 season. The ninth edition of the tournament was held from May 2 to 4, 2025, at Gulf Place Public Beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
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Of the 103 eligible NCAA teams, a total of 16 qualified for the tournament and were seeded from No. 1 to No. 16. Eight of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments. The remaining eight bids were allocated at large by the NCAA Women's Beach Volleyball Committee. Eight of the participating schools automatically qualified by winning their respective conference tournaments, while the other eight were given at-large bids by the NCAA Women's Beach Volleyball Committee.
The 2025 NC beach volleyball championship bracket consisted of 16 teams, with eight making it as automatic qualifiers via conference championships. The selected teams were seeded Nos.
Beach Volleyball vs. Indoor Volleyball
Volleyball is a sport that can be played virtually on any surface, whether on grass, hardwood, sand or even in the pool. Beach volleyball was introduced to the Olympics as a demonstration sport in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and was officially added as a sport at the 1996 Atlanta Games. But what exactly is beach volleyball at the college level, and how does it differ from its indoor counterpart?
NCAA beach volleyball competition is played in duals, with 10 student-athletes split into five pairs. Instead of six players occupying the court like in indoor volleyball, beach volleyball is a 2 vs. 2 matchup, which means that every athlete must be a utility player - they could serve, dig, block and hit a ball in one rally. As for the coaches, it's a rule that they must remain seated except for timeouts and between sets; they are only allowed to coach their athletes during breaks in the game (side changes, timeouts and between sets or matches).
Each pairs match is won by the team that wins two sets. Each set is played first to 21 points (instead of 25 for indoor), and a team must win by at least two points. If the sets are tied 1-1, the decisive third set is played to 15, where the winner must again win by at least two points.
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Unlike indoor volleyball, outdoor elements play a factor in the game of beach volleyball. Wind can push a ball one way or another, sun can blind players glancing up at a ball and sand can lower verticals and slow players. The sport has accommodated these elemental variables by allowing sunglasses, hats and sand socks - foot protection - as well as cold weather gear. Doubles courts are 16m x 8m in dimension (compared to 18m x 9m for indoor courts).
The Rise of TCU
TCU won its first-ever beach volleyball championship, defeating Loyola Marymount 3-2 in the title matches. TCU won the first national championship in its program history, taking down Loyola Marymount in the final duel, 3-2.
Dominance of USC and UCLA
From its inception in 2016 to 2024, only two teams, both from Los Angeles, had won the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship: the USC Trojans (six titles and four-time defending champion: 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024) and the UCLA Bruins (two titles: 2018 and 2019). Both teams are in the running for the title once again in 2025. UCLA entered the NCAA tournament seeded No. Southern California defeated UCLA 3-0 in last year's national championship to claim its fourth straight title.
AVCA Small College Beach Volleyball Championships
The AVCA Small College Beach Volleyball Championships is the largest collegiate beach volleyball event in the country with 36 teams competing in nearly 500 total matches during the championship weekend. The event brings together the top beach teams in the country from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and the NAIA. A champion is crowned in each division along with recognition of All-America/All-Tournament teams.
The AVCA Small College Beach Volleyball Championships is held at a public beach area in front of The Hangout Restaurant, 101 E.
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