2026 NC Beach Volleyball Bracket
For the fifth-straight season, The Big West will be represented by two teams in the 2026 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship bracket, announced by the committee today. Big West champion Cal Poly secured the league's automatic berth, while Long Beach State earned an at-large selection to round out the conference's presence in the 16-team field.
The National Collegiate Championship begins Friday, May 1, with first-round matches and continues through the championship dual on Sunday, May 3 at Gulf Place in Gulf Shores, Ala.
The 2026 championship bracket consists of 16 teams, with eight earning automatic qualification through conference championships. The field is seeded No's. 1-16 and will compete in a single-elimination format, featuring five flighted pairs matches per dual, with each court worth one point.
Cal Poly (30-8) enters as The Big West champion and will face No. 11 seed Grand Canyon (19-15) in the opening round. The Mustangs carry dominant momentum into Gulf Shores after not surrendering a single point in the Big West Championship and extending that stretch to six consecutive dual wins without conceding a point, including three victories over nationally ranked opponents. Cal Poly has compiled a 156-30 overall pairs record (.839), powered by the duo of Izzy Martinez and Logan Walter (34-3) and Ella Connor and Erin Inskeep (31-5). Depth remains a hallmark for the Mustangs, with additional production from Elise Lenahan and Julia Westby (28-3) and Ashleigh Adams and Quinn Perry (26-4).
The Mustangs return to the national stage after another deep postseason run a year ago. As the No. 6 seed in 2025, Cal Poly advanced to its second consecutive semifinal, defeating No. 11 LSU and No. 3 Stanford before falling to TCU, 3-1. The Mustangs closed that campaign with a 31-8 overall record, matching the program's highest win total.
On the opposite side of the bracket, Long Beach State (25-11) earned the No. 9 seed and will square off against No. 8 seed California (23-13) in the 8/9 matchup. The Beach is making its fifth appearance in the national championship and its fourth straight trip to the tournament. Long Beach State enters after winning seven consecutive duals before the Big West Championship match and owns a 111-69 overall pairs record (.617), led by Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah (24-10) and Tineke Hinton and Demi Wagdy (22-9).
In last year's championship, Long Beach State fell 3-1 to No. 8 seed Florida State in the opening round, finishing the season 27-8 as Big West champions. The Mustangs earned two wins in last year's Championship before bowing out in the national semifinal over TCU 3-1, including an intense, hard-fought victory over No. 3 seed Stanford.
Every match of the championship will air live on the ESPN family of networks, with first-round, second-round, and semifinal action on ESPN2 and the championship dual broadcast on ESPN.
First Round – Friday, May 1 (ESPN2)
• 10 a.m. | No. 4 Southern California vs. No. 13 Texas A&M Corpus-Christi
• 11 a.m. | No. 5 Florida State vs. No. 12 Stetson
• 12 p.m. | No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 16 Chattanooga
• 1 p.m. | No. 8 California vs. No. 9 Long Beach State
• 2 p.m. | No. 2 Texas vs. No. 15 Georgia State
• 3 a.m. | No. 7 LMU (CA) vs. No. 10 TCU
• 4 p.m. | No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 14 Tulane
• 5 p.m. | No. 6 Cal Poly vs. No. 11 Grand Canyon
Second Round – Saturday, May 2 (ESPN2)
Semifinals – Saturday, May 2 (ESPN2)
Championship – Sunday, May 3 (ESPN)