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The Big West sees two teams in the 2023 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship bracket, with both league champion Long Beach State and Big West top seed Hawai’i earning a place in the 17-team field.
The new single-elimination format bracket and expanded field is set for May 5-7 at Gulf Shores Main Public Beach in Gulf Shores, Ala.
The Beach earned the No. 9 seed in the bracket and is set to take on eighth-seeded California in the first round. LBSU earned The Big West’s automatic bid after racing to the 2023 Big West Championship, winning four straight matches to claim a first beach title in program history. This will be the second national championship appearance for the Beach, also competing in the bracket in 2017.
LBSU enters the national postseason with a 24-14 record and a five-match winning streak. Cal earned an at-large bid into the championship with a 28-9 overall record and second-place finish in the PAC-12 Championship.
The two teams met once this season, facing off on March 6 in a 3-2 decision in favor of the Bears in Malibu, Calif. In that match, the points for the Nos. 3 and 5 pairs went to LBSU, with freshman phenoms Taylor Hagenah and Malia Gementera along with the tandem of Maggie Walters and Natalie Glenn earning victories on their respective courts.
Hawai’i nabbed an at large berth in the bracket and is set for a Big West-leading sixth appearance in the National Collegiate Championship. The Rainbow Wahine secured the No. 11 seed and are pitted against sixth-seeded LMU. Hawai’i enters the national postseason with a 27-8 overall record, making back-to-back national collegiate appearances. LMU is fresh of a fourth-straight WCC Championship and sports a 28-8 record on the year.
It will be the first match between the BeachBows and Lions in 2023. LMU knocked out Hawai’i in the first round of the 2022 bracket, a 3-0 decision.
UH is paced by All-American No. 1 tandem Kaylee Glagau and Brooke Van Sickle. The twosome is 29-3 on the year, only dropping points to Cal Poly, UCLA and Long Beach State this season. Glagau and Van Sickle are the 2022 Big West Pairs Team of the Year, with this season's awards slated for announcement this coming Tuesday.
The event will be televised live by ESPN networks, with ESPNU providing live coverage on Friday, May 5 starting at 10 a.m. ET. Live coverage will continue Saturday, May 6 on ESPN2, starting at 10 a.m. ET and the championship dual on Sunday, May 7 at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Additionally, live streaming coverage of every court starting with Friday’s duals will be available on ESPN+. For championship site dual times and more information about the championship, log on to
ncaa.com/beachvolleyball.