The NCAA Beach Volleyball championship tournament has rocked Gulf Shores, Alabama, with its high-thrill on-court action, where 16 teams are battling for the coveted title in a single-elimination tournament style. After a startling opening round of beach bouts, the championships are set to conclude with a grand finale on Sunday, May 3, between the No. 1-seeded Stanford Cardinals and No. 3-seeded UCLA Bruins.
Reigning champions TCU Horned Frogs had entered the tournament with a No. 10 seed, however, despite a hard-fought first round, they got beaten by LMU with a 3-2 score. Stanford’s path to the sand-swept finale was a tale of domination as the Cardinals beat Chattanooga, California, and Florida, while the UCLA Bruins had their own destruction derby that took down Tulane, Cal Poly, and Texas to reach the final showdown.
The Cardinals have created history by making it to the finale for the first time since their volleyball program kicked off, made possible by the dominating anchoring of Kelly Belardi, Avery Jackson, and Charlotta Bell.
Below are some of the key pieces of information that every beach volleyball enthusiast must pocket to experience the true adrenaline-fueled showdown of the 2026 championships.
NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship 2026 Finals Schedule
Stanford Cardinals (1) vs UCLA Bruins (3) – May 3, 2026 – 12:30 PM ET
NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship Teams
The 16 teams that broke in to compete for the NCAA championships are listed below:
- Stanford
- Texas
- California
- Chattanooga
- Long Beach State
- UCLA
- USC
- Florida State
- Stetson
- Southern California
- A&M-Corpus Christi
- Grand Canyon
- Tulane
- Georgia State
- Cal Poly
- LMU (CA)
Past Champions
The NCAA had commissioned the beach volleyball sport back in 2016, and since then, Southern Californian Trojans (USC) have been the roaring giant of the beach game, with a staggering record of having gained six titles in the past decade. As this year’s final game unfolds, here is the list of all the past NCAA beach volleyball national championships, alongside USC, that have dominated the sand.
2025: TCU (Beat LMU)
2024: USC (Beat UCLA)
2023: USC (Beat UCLA)
2022: USC (Beat Florida State)
2021: USC (Beat UCLA)
2020: * (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
2019: UCLA (Beat USC)
2018: UCLA (Beat Florida State)
2017: USC (Beat Pepperdine)
2016: USC (Beat Florida State)
How to Watch
The NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship 2026 will be broadcast live on TV channels ESPN and ESPN 2, and will also stream live on the ESPN app and Fubo.
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