TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida State beach volleyball team will hold the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Championship, which takes place May 4-6 in Gulf Shores, Ala. The Seminoles enter the championship as the top team in the east, and will face off against seven of the best teams in the nation at Gulf Place.
FSU opens play at the event against two-time defending national champion Southern California. In a rematch of the 2016 title game, the two teams square off at 11 am ET (10 am CT) on Friday, May 4. The winner advances to the second round (Match 7) Friday at 4:00 pm ET, while the loser moves to the first round of the elimination bracket (Match 5) Friday at 2:00 pm. The Seminoles’ first two matches will air on ESPNU.
“It’s great that all four teams, FSU, LSU, South Carolina and FIU, got into the tournament,” Niles said. “That’s the first time that has happened, and it really shows how strong the east is becoming.”
Florida State is one of only two programs in the nation to make an appearance in every AVCA (2012-15) and NCAA (2016-18) Championship. FSU finished as the national runner-up in 2014 and 2016, and posted back-to-back top three finishes in 2012 and 2013.
The Seminoles head into the national championship riding a streak of 18 consecutive victories, and just two weeks after claiming the team’s third CCSA Championship. The team went undefeated against conference opponents this season, and has not lost to an East Coast team since head coach Brooke Niles took the helm in 2016.
FSU saw seven opponents ranked in the AVCA Top-10 this season, with 18 matches taking place against teams ranked in the Top-15 with a 12-6 record in those matches. The Seminoles did not lose to a team currently ranked lower than sixth in the polls, and posted sweeps in 20 matches this season without being swept once.
The 2017 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship will feature a double elimination, bracket play tournament with the two remaining schools playing a winner-take-all match on Sunday at 3:00 pm ET.
The 2018 Beach Volleyball Championship provides for a field of eight teams to compete in a double elimination tournament. The NCAA Women’s Beach Volleyball Committee conducts team selections, selecting the top three teams from the East Region and the top three teams from the West Region. The remaining two teams are selected at-large from across the country by the NCAA Women’s Beach Volleyball Committee.
