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What 2 Watch 4
All seven Big West beach volleyball teams are in action with matches set to start on Wednesday as CSUN hosts a pair of contests, and Sacramento State will be on their home sand at the Hornet Beach Bash over the weekend.
Both UC Davis and Cal State Bakersfield head to Zuma Beach to play in the Waves Tourney, hosted by Pepperdine. Making their farthest trip west since 2018, No. 11 Hawai’i heads deep in the heart of Texas as No. 5 TCU welcomes the Rainbow Wahine in for an event with Texas, Houston Christian and the host Horned Frogs.
In the marquee action of the weekend, No. 9 Long Beach State plays hosts to sixth-ranked Cal Poly in Laguna Beach. The Mustangs won the first meeting of the season between the two, downing the Beach 4-1 in what was a rematch of the 2023 Big West Championship final, which went the way of LBSU. The two tussle again on Saturday at 12:15 p.m., and live stats for the match will be available at beachlivestats.com.
Looking ahead to early next week, Long Beach State, CSUN and the nation's No. 1 team UCLA will play a tri-dual on Tuesday, April 9 in Los Angeles.
League Look In
- Big-West leading Cal Poly (21-2) is ranked sixth in the nation and is riding a 16-match winning streak dating back to a 3-2 loss at No. 3 Southern California on March 3. The Mustangs rolled through The Big West Challenge with a 6-0 mark and then followed it up with a 4-1 victory at No. 6 California last week. The upcoming docket sees Cal Poly in action against Big West foe Long Beach State this weekend before hosting the Center of Effort Challenge the following week. The No. 1 tandem of Ella Connor and Izzy Martinez have picked up 12 consecutive points for the Mustangs and are 18-4 on the year to lead the team from the top.
- Hawai’i (14-9) is ranked 11th nationally after a 5-1 week at The Big West Challenge, including a 3-2 battle over defending Big West champions Long Beach State. The lone loss came at the hands of Cal Poly in their final match of the weekend in Northern California. A program-first trip to Texas is up next for the Rainbow Wahine, set to compete in the two-day TCU Invitational this weekend. The ‘Bows will square off with Texas and No. 5 TCU on Friday before closing their first trip west of the Rockies since 2018 against Houston Christian. UH has used 13 different pairing combinations, but the top tandem of Jaime Santer and Alana Embry and the duo of Sydney Amiatu and Riley Wagoner have played all 23 matches together this year.
- Long Beach State (18-4) is coming off a 4-2 week at The Big West Challenge, dropping matches against Hawai’i and Cal Poly while picking up sweeps against Cal State Bakersfield, Sacramento State and CSUN and capping the event with a 4-1 win at UC Davis. The ninth-ranked Beach will have a short turnaround before seeing the sixth-ranked Mustangs again as the two meet up at Laguna Beach on Saturday. The duo of Savannah Standage and Julia Westby were perfect at the Challange, earning LBSU’s lone point against Cal Poly. No. 1 tandem Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah reached the 50-win mark against the Hornets, third highest in program history in just a second season on the sand together.
- Boasting the current Pairs Team of the Week Kylie Miller and Colleen McGuire, UC Davis (14-12) is coming off a split weekend after falling twice to the hosts while downing Oregon in a pair of matches at the Boise State Classic. Miller and McGuire went 4-0 in the top flight, as the only tandem to take points off of Boise State. This week, the Aggies head to Malibu for the Waves Tourney against CUI, Southestern Louisiana and Pepperdine at Zuma Beach.
- CSUN (13-12) is the first team on the sand this week, hosting Southeastern Louisiana in a Wednesday doubleheader in Northridge. In their most recent outing, a the Matadors split a tri-dual with Tulane and Cal State Bakersfield, besting the Roadrunners for the third time in four tries this season. Playing together from the No. 1 position all season, Gabriela Griego and MayaMay Brown sport a 14-11 overall record including pairs wins in both of last week’s matches. With 13 team victories and nine regular season matches remaining before The Big West Championship, CSUN will have an opportunity to eclipse the single-season wins record of 17 set by the 2023, 2022, and 2018 Matador teams.
- Cal State Bakersfield (12-14) won its last two matches on the sand against Vanguard and Saint Katherine and look to keep the momentum going in the Waves Tourney this weekend at Zuma Beach. The Roadrunners will take on host Pepperdine, Southeastern Louisiana and CUI in the event, which is also on the weekend docket for the Aggies. Trying out 15 tandem combinations thus far on the season, the pairing of Ella Erteltova and Vivi Kaelin have seen the most success with an 18-3 overall mark, primarily from the No. 3 position. The two picked up Pairs Team of the Week honors back on Feb. 26 to open the season.
- Playing host at the Hornet Beach Bash this weekend, Sacramento State (5-14) welcomes Louisiana-Monroe as well as WCC sides San Francisco, Santa Clara and Pacific to California’s capitol. The Hornets are looking for a first win on the home sand at Hornet Beach and look to snap a 13-match slide.
Poll Position
Three Big West teams are ranked in the latest edition of the AVCA Collegiate Beach Coaches’ Poll for April 2. Cal Poly keeps rising up the rankings to land in sixth, with defending Big West champion Long Beach State clocking in at No. 9 an Hawai'i landing at 11th in the listings.
2024 Championship Changes
In December, The Big West announced the site, date and format for the upcoming 2024 Big West Beach Volleyball Championship.
The modernization of The Big West Championship will allow for the best possible student-athlete experience for all participants. The adjusted format and schedule ensures every participant has the opportunity to play at their peak performance level with ample rest between matches. The thoughtful approach to seeding and bracket style with the addition of pool play will also see more teams advance to the second day of competition.
Hosted by Long Beach State, the 2024 Championship event is set to take place on the courts at Long Beach City Community College on April 25-26.
The new Championship format sees an updated methodology of seeding which creates an index to seed the field with takes each institution’s winning percentage as well as their opponent winning percentage into account in the formula.
Previously held on Friday and Saturday, the one-day shift ahead on the calendar with a Thursday start allows for The Big West champion and National Collegiate Championship automatic qualifier to be determined under the Friday night lights. This schedule adjustment also affords the NCAA committee ample time to consider all Big West teams for inclusion on the national stage.
The Championship will feature all seven competitors converging on the courts in a revamped format. The first day of the event will see every team in action in modified pool play. After Day 1, the field will be narrowed to six and a single-elimination bracket will commence for Day 2 to crown The Big West champion.
Pool A sees teams seeded 2, 3, 6 and 7 compete against each other on Thursday, April 25. The No. 3 seed will open play against the No. 6 seed, and the No. 2 seed competes against the No. 7 team with the Pool A winners playing each other for first and second in the pool. The other two teams in the pool will then compete against each other to determine the final team who will advance to the second day of competition.
The three teams in Pool B - seeded No. 1, 4 and 5 – will square off in a round robin on Thursday to determine positioning for Friday’s single-elimination bracket. The winners from both pools will earn a bye to the Championship semifinals.
The 2024 National Collegiate Championship is set for May 3-5 in Gulf Shores, Ala., which has been the site of the Championship since its Then in 2025, all eyes will turn to Huntington Beach, Calif., as Long Beach State plays host to the national event in 2026 and ‘27.
2023 Postseason Rewind
On April 22, 2023, eleventh-ranked and second-seeded Long Beach State completed an undefeated bracket run to claim its first Big West Beach Volleyball Championship at Queen’s Beach in Honolulu.
The Beach was out to impress early in the Championship, taking both Friday matches 5-0 to advance to Saturday’s winner’s bracket semifinal against host and No. 1 seed Hawai’i. The Rainbow Wahine had defeated Long Beach State three times in the 2023 campaign, all by a 3-2 score.
The final score was the same in the bout to get to the last match of the event, but this time in favor of the women in Black and Gold.
After going 2-1 in the first day of play, three-time defending champion and fifth-seeded Cal Poly advanced through the elimination bracket with an upset of their own. No stranger to weaving their way into the championship match the hard way, Cal Poly hoisted the trophy in 2018 from the bottom half of the bracket.
The Mustangs started the day by beating third-seeded UC Davis 4-1 to advance to the elimination bracket finals. After the Beach sent Hawai’i down in the winner’s bracket semifinal, Cal Poly posted a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory against UH to avenge a Friday loss to advance to the finale as the lowest-seeded side playing for the trophy.
LBSU was able to cool any early-day momentum the Mustangs built, powering to the 4-1 decision to secure The Big West’s automatic bid to the 2023 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship May 5-7 in Gulf Shores, Ala.
Both the Beach and the ‘Bows earned entry into the revamped bracket, but fell in their first round matches. Long Beach State pushed California to the brink before succumbing, 3-2, and Hawai’i dropped their weather-delayed first match to LMU, 3-1, to cap the season.
Coaches' Corner
In June, UC Davis welcomed Joe Rich as the Aggies’ leader on the sand. The third UC Davis beach volleyball coach in program history took over after a solo-season stint for Gretchen Hand. Rich comes to UC Davis with over 25 years of coaching experience including previously serving as assistant coach at Big West foe Cal Poly for two seasons.
Cal State Bakersfield is also seeing a new face on the sideline in 2024. Roadrunner alumnus Andy Fulenwider was tapped as the fourth head coach of the program in October. Fulenwider has been a coach and private trainer for AVP players since 2018 and worked in the assistant coach capacity at NAIA’s Saint Katherine, along with strong roots in the California beach volleyball club scene.
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