Queens of the Beach - A look forward to who will be named NCAA Beach Volleyball Champions 2019

Saint Mary’s vs. Stanford. Photo by John Loo

Beach volleyball season is upon us, the competition is incredibly tough this year as teams are battling it out to be the last remaining queens of the court.

Collegiate beach volleyball is not necessarily the most popular sport across the nation, but here on the west coast, it’s a pretty big deal. In the past few years teams such as UCLA, Stanford, Pepperdine, and University of Hawai’i have all been big players in the race for the title, and continue to be strong competitors this year.

The NCAA ranks the top 5 schools for the 2019 season thus far as, 1. UCLA, 2. University of Southern California, 3. Pepperdine, 4. Florida State, and 5. University of Hawai’i. UCLA is starting the season off as the reigning champs, and are so far undefeated at 9–0.

For this and many other reasons I predict that UCLA will win the 2019 NCAA Beach Volleyball title, and here’s why:

1. They are a young team

UCLA has many returning players, majority of their team is made up of first year and sophomore students, which will allow them to grow and develop a team that can work well together. With 5 seniors on their 19 person roster, you can expect them to be back again competing at this high standard even next year. The young members of the squad seem to be gaining a lot of experience as they have been paired up with senior players, allowing them to rise to that level of competition.

2. They are the reigning title holders

They have had a taste of what it is like to win, and are hungry for more. That reflects heavily in their statistics, as they have 7 out of their 9 pairs that have not lost a match this season. After beating the Florida State Seminoles last year 3 matches to 1, they have been focused and driven to make it a perfect sweep this year.

UCLA will have to face tough competitors this season, but if they keep playing like they have been for the past few weeks, I don’t see them having any trouble rising to the top again. Keep a lookout, as it will be an exciting season to follow.