GULF SHORES, Ala. (WALA) – NCAA. com says TCU has won the 2025 beach volleyball championship in Gulf Shores.

The championship match was played Sunday.

Here is the post on NCAA.com

TCU won its first-ever beach volleyball championship, defeating Loyola Marymount 3-2 in the title matches. This was the first time in NC beach volleyball history that UCLA or Southern Cal did not take home the trophy.

The 2025 NC beach volleyball championship with the selection show, live-streamed on NCAA.com, and ended with the national championship match on May 4, all taking place in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

The NCAA Beach Volleyball Committee announced the 16-team field for the championship here.

Copyright 2025 WALA. All rights reserved.

GULF SHORES, Ala. – The LMU Beach Volleyball finished the 2025 season as National Finalists, the furthest the program has ever gone. The Lions entered the day coming off a quarterfinal win over USC and a semifinal win over UCLA to earn a spot in the National Championship game against 2-seed TCU.
 
The Horned Frogs took the first dual point on Court 4, before LMU tied the dual at 1-1 with a win on Court 2 from Chloe Hooker and Vilhelmiina Prihti. The LMU Twos Pair won 21-16, 21-17. With the win, Prihti surpassed Jessie Pritchard as LMU’s all-time winningest player with 110 wins. The pair of Hooker and Prihti were named to the NCAA All-Tournament team after going 2-0 with two unfinished matches.
 
TCU then went back ahead 2-1 with a win at the threes pair. The response came with a win at Court Five from Tanon Rosenthal and Giuliana Poletti Corrales. The pair won with identical sets of 21-16, 21-16 to tie the dual at 2-all and setting up a decisive match on the final court. Rosenthal and Poletti Corrales went 4-0 in four matches at Gulf Shores.
 
After winning the first set, 21-18, Michelle Shaffer and Anna Pelloia fell behind in the second set and TCU forced a decisive third set for the National Championship. The Horned Frogs came out fast, leading 9-2, 10-3, and 11-4 before ultimately taking the final set of the season 15-6.
 
The Lions are just the second program in school history to play in a National Championship Game, joining the 2004 Women’s Water Polo program. The 38 wins are a program record and John Mayer became the first coach in school history to be named National Coach of the Year. The team also became the first in school history to win six consecutive conference titles.
 
Fans, students, staff, faculty, and community members are invited to welcome the Lions home on Sunday night. LMU will be arriving to Fans, students, staff, faculty, and community members are invited to welcome the Lions home on Sunday night. LMU will be arriving to campus around 9:15 PM straight from Gulf Shores and head directly back to campus to depart the team bus outside the Hank Gathers statue.
 
Official Beach Volleyball Results (Final)
#2 TCU (32-5) vs #4 Loyola Marymount (38-7)
05/04/2025 at Gulf Shores, Ala. — The Hangout
Match Score: TCU 3, LMU 2
 

1. Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno (TCU) def. Michelle Shaffer and Anna Pelloia (LMU); 18-21, 21-15, 15-6
2. Chloe Hooker and Vilhelmiina Prihti (LMU) def. Hailey Hamlett and Maria Gonzalez (TCU): 21-16, 21-17
3. Allanis Navas and Sofia Izuzquiza (TCU) def. Abbey Thorup and Lisa Luini (LMU): 21-16, 21-13
4. Ana Vergara and Anhelina Khmil (TCU) def. Isabelle Reffel and Magdalena Rabitsch (LMU): 21-14, 21-19
5. Tanon Rosenthal and Giuliana Poletti Corrales (LMU) def. Stacy Reeves and Denie Konstantinova (TCU): 21-16, 21-16

 
MATCH NOTES
Order of finish: 4, 2, 3, 5, 1,
Start Time: 9:35 AM
Duration: 1:13
 
Donate Today:
Fans interested in making a contribution to the Lions Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will help provide a transformational student-athlete experience athletically, academically, and culturally for every LMU student-athlete. We appreciate your continued support of LMU Athletics. 
 
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For complete coverage of Loyola Marymount University athletics, visit LMULions.com. We encourage you to follow along with all the action on social media as well. Follow along by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Instagram.
 
 

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When Geoff Colton went to college in his early 30s, he wanted to join some kind of activity where he could meet people. 

He felt his options were a bit limited as someone who had recently gotten sober after struggling with drugs and alcohol. 

“I knew it couldn’t be a frat,” he said. 

So, to help him move forward, he looked back, where he reconnected with volleyball. He grew up in California, where he had plenty of opportunities to play on club and school teams. He found a club team at his college in Sacramento, and has spent the last decade-plus integrating himself back into the sport. 

Now, Colton is trying to teach the game he loves to younger generations as the head coach of the Tigard boys volleyball team, a new team in its first season at the school. 

“This is my giveback to the community,” Colton said. “It’s about teaching kids about the sport I love. I was in communication with (Tigard Athletic Director) Ryan Taylor for three years about getting a team together, and this year, we were finally able to give it a shot. Without him, this wouldn’t have happened.”

In October 2023, the Oregon School Activities Association named boys volleyball as an emerging activity, meaning there was enough interest in making it a full-on sport that OSAA would give it a probationary period to see if enough schools participated. The sport has grown from 25 teams in 2023 to nearly 70 this year, and the OSAA is expected to vote on whether to make it a full sport this October. 

Colton has coached boys volleyball club teams in the area and was following along as OSAA discussed adding boys volleyball, and was in contact with Taylor about bringing a team to the school. 

There are some difficulties in starting a new program, of course, both on and off the court. Colton wasn’t totally sure about what turnout would be like, but he had 24 boys sign up to tryout, 14 of whom made the team.

“I’m a one-man band and I would have loved to produce a JV team, as well,” he said. “But the time constraints with coaching club and my regular work, there wasn’t enough for me to go around.”

Another difficulty is teaching his team the sport. Of the team’s 14 members, only two have any kind of organized volleyball experience: sophomore Brayden Ellis, who has played six years of club ball, and junior Cody Matthews, who has played club for four years. 

“It’s been a challenge,” Ellis said. “Everybody is so new. It’s also a good challenge to step up in this leadership position and help out the players with less experience. It’s been fun to see them pick things up and get better.”

Colton said he has leaned on Ellis and Matthews quite a bit so far this year. 

“I consider them assistants to me,” he said. “When it came time to running specific drills, they were my examples. I ask them to showcase and display what I was trying to convey to the rest of the team as far as the execution of certain plays. They’re big leaders within the team.”

Colton said his team is very willing to learn and are excited about the sport, which is what he wants to see more than anything else. He said coming into the season, he compared the process of teaching the Tigers about the game to coaching an under-12 team. 

“It’s about fundamentals,” he said. “If they’re showing excitement and improving as athletes, that’s great. We’re working on footwork, court IQ, knowing your surroundings, and how to work as a team.”

One other thing that has made it a bit more difficult is that volleyball isn’t the most mainstream sport. It’s not one you can typically throw on the TV any time of year, or one kids grow up watching or playing outside of occasionally in gym class. 

Freshman Patrick Gerhard had some experience playing on an afterschool team in middle school, but his first year on the school team has been quite a bit different just in terms of learning the sport and the intensity of playing for the school.

“We have so many people doing it for the first time or even me, who’s been playing for a few years, but never in a competitive environment,” he said. “It’s a big change for me from middle school afterschool teachers to actual professional coaching.”

He said he heard there was a chance there would be a boys team when he got to high school, and he was pumped when he found out he could give it a try. Both Gerhard and Ellis said they told friends about the team to try and get them to try out, but not many did.

However, they both also said they have friends coming to their home games already, and they’ve loved playing in front of a crowd. 

Colton said he’s already seen so much growth in his players that he’s already excited about the future of the program. 

“It’s a sport where you have to crawl before you can walk,” Colton said. “You start with learning how to pass the ball and set the ball, and the arm swing mechanics of hitting the ball at the net. You have to break every little piece down. From there, the boys go from learning the techniques to learning the rules, and they connect the dots. That’s the exciting part. They go from scoring a point to understanding how they scored a point.”

The work the team has put in is already paying off. Tigard has had a few injuries, leading to some younger or more inexperienced players having to play more than expected. Colton can see the players on his team connecting to the sport the more they play, and he thinks that bodes well for the future of boys volleyball at Tigard. 

“What we’re able to do with those younger aged athletes is have them lock in on the sport,” he said. “So many families have already reached out to ask what more they can do to get their son playing more volleyball. There are plenty of camps and plenty of clinics close, and the next season of club volleyball is coming up. Right now, for all these kids, they’re all going after the same goal: to get better and represent their school.”

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And just like that — snap! — the final week of L-L League boys volleyball section play has arrived. And how are we in May already?

The curtain will come down on the regular season after league matches on Tuesday and Thursday.

Here’s everything you need to know about the races, plus plenty of news and notables heading into the last week of play.

SECTION 1

Out front: Cedar Crest (9-1 league, 13-2 overall) and Warwick (9-1, 9-1) are tied for the top spot. Yes sir, it’s all tied up with two to play. We’re looking at a photo finish in this race, with three teams battling it out for two L-L League playoff slots — oh, and the section title.

Still in the picture: Hempfield (7-3, 8-4) is two games back, but depending how things shake down, the Black Knights could end up in some sort of a tie. Stay tuned. And keep the District 3 power ratings close if this indeed comes down to a tiebreaker.

Chase pack: Penn Manor (5-5, 9-7), Manheim Township (4-7, 9-8), Elizabethtown (1-9, 4-11) and Ephrata (1-10, 4-12) are in spoiler mode.

Matches to circle: After a nonleague tilt on Monday against Lower Dauphin, Cedar Crest finishes up Tuesday at Ephrata and Thursday at home against E-town. … Warwick gets Penn Manor at home on Tuesday and then visits — wait for it — Hempfield on Thursday. Circle that one. … The Black Knights are at E-town on Tuesday before welcoming the Warriors on the last night of league play.

Notable: Cedar Crest is seeking its first L-L League section championship. Warwick is going for its fourth straight Section 1 title; the Warriors shared the crown with Hempfield last spring.

SECTION 2

Out front: Manheim Central (12-0, 13-0) is not only alone in first place, but the Barons have clinched no worse than a tie for the section crown. One more win, and Manheim Central gets the gold trophy.

Still in the picture: Cocalico (10-2, 14-2) is alone in second place, and needs two wins, and for Manheim Central to fall twice, to force a tie for the title. We’ll go ahead and call that a long shot. But hey, it’s still on the table. … Conestoga Valley (8-4, 8-6) is two games behind Cocalico, and needs two wins, and for the Eagles to fall twice to force a tie for second place. Again, very likely a long shot. But that’s why you play the matches. … Still some house-cleaning to do here before anything is etched in stone.

Chase pack: Lancaster Mennonite (7-5, 9-7), Northern Lebanon (5-7, 8-10), Lebanon (3-9, 3-10), McCaskey (3-9, 3-11) and Garden Spot (0-12, 1-16) are all looking for fast finishes — especially Lancaster Mennonite and Northern Lebanon, which are in line for postseason bids.

Matches to circle: After an intriguing trip to York Suburban for a nonleague showdown on Monday, Manheim Central finishes up at McCaskey and at Lebanon. A win vs. the Red Tornado, and the Barons would snag the section outright. … Cocalico wraps it up Tuesday at Garden Spot and Thursday at home vs. Conestoga Valley. The Buckskins get Lancaster Mennonite at home on Tuesday and then are at Cocalico to put a bow on the regular season.

Notable: Manheim Central is in line for its third straight section title, and the Barons have also won the last two L-L League tournament championships. Should Manheim Central lock up the section crown, the Barons would host the league semifinals on May 12, with a double-header starting at 5 p.m. The L-L League finale is May 15 at 7 p.m. at Ephrata.

And this: Manheim Central is riding a 36-match winning streak in section play. The Barons have dropped just one set this spring, and that was to Cocalico back on April 1 in Manheim.

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KNIGHTS, STREAKS IN HAPPY VALLEY

The last regular-season tournament was contested on Saturday, and Hempfield and Manheim Township participated in the powerhouse State College Invitational.

Manheim Township did not make it out of pool play, but Hempfield did make it all the way to the playoff bracket. After going 6-0 in the first round of pool play, and 3-3 in the second round of pool play, the Black Knights found themselves in quarterfinals against WPIAL titan North Allegheny — and NA KO’d Hempfield.

NA went on to beat Central Dauphin in the championship match, in what was a star-studded playoff bracket. … Both of the top-ranked teams in the PVCA state rankings were there: Meadville in 2A and Cumberland Valley in 3A; Meadville lost to NA — No. 2 in the PVCA-3A state rankings — in the semifinals, and Cumberland Valley was tripped up by Central York — No. 3 in the PVCA-3A state rankings — in the quarterfinals. … Greater Latrobe — No. 5 in the PVCA-3A state rankings — fell to Meadville in the quarterfinals.

Meadville is ahead of No. 2 Manheim Central in the PVCA-2A state rankings; the Bulldogs beat the Barons in last year’s PIAA title match. Shaler beat Parkland for 3A state gold last spring.

Cedar Crest (8) and Warwick (9) finished up last week inside the PVCA-3A state rankings.

TOP PERFORMERS

* Getting it started with a couple of Cedar Crest stalwarts: St. Francis recruit Jack Wolgemuth waffled 14 kills in a nonleague win against Daniel Boone, he tacked on 11 kills in a Section 1 win over Manheim Township, and he capped the week with 14 digs in the Falcons’ must-have section victory over Hempfield. … Teammate Ryder Rohrer teed up 22 assists in the Daniel Boone match, he had 32 assists in the W over Manheim Township, and he set up 31 assists against Hempfield.

* Three players from Cocalico in the spotlight: Colson Hildebrand dominated at the net with 14 kills in a nonleague victory over Ephrata in the Backyard Brawl, and he tacked on 11 kills in a win over Lebanon, and he slammed 12 kills in a dub over Lancaster Mennonite. … Reilly Stark pounded 14 kills against Ephrata, he served up five aces and he had four digs against Lebanon, and he sparked the D with seven digs against Lancaster Mennonite. … And Jacob Wambolt was the maestro; he had 34 assists against Ephrata, 27 assists vs. Lebanon, and 27 assists in the Lancaster Mennonite match.

* McCaskey’s Yasiel Rodriguez was huge up front with 10 kills and 10 blocks in the Red Tornado’s win over Garden Spot, as McCaskey tripled its win total from 2024.

* Lucky 22. Lebanon picked up a win — its third this season, as the Cedars’ program, like McCaskey’s, picks up some steam — over Garden Spot, with Yadiel Gonzalez getting 22 digs on D, and Savian Perez-Crespo dishing off 22 assists against the Spartans.

* Northern Lebanon bumped off Conestoga Valley 3-2 last Tuesday to knock the Buckskins down a peg in the Section 2 hunt. The heroes were E-town College commit Sam Kolacek, who boomed 17 kills, and Carter Kubica, who set up 37 assists for the Vikings.

* Can’t get through an L-L League boys volleyball notebook without mentioning these two: Manheim Central’s Dylan Musser and Reagan Miller did plenty of damage in two wins last week. Miller uncorked 30 kills — 16 vs. Lancaster Mennonite and 14 vs. Conestoga Valley — and Musser had 33 assists and four aces against the Blazers, and 28 assists with a trio of aces vs. the Buckskins, as the Barons kept on keeping on.

* Penn Manor had a busy week with four matches, including three in a row, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Comets won the last three straight, with victories over E-town, Lower Dauphin and Daniel Boone. Rayn Andreychek had five digs against E-town, 15 digs against LD, and 15 more digs against Boone. And David Kirkley had five blocks vs. E-town and 15 digs and three aces vs. Boone, as Penn Manor continues to chase a D3-3A playoff bid.

* Talk about stuffing the stat sheet. Ephrata’s Fries brothers were key cogs for the Mountaineers in three matches last week. Against Cocalico, Austin swatted 18 kills and Brayden had 32 assists and 13 digs; against Warwick, Austin had 12 kills and Brayden set up 30 assists; and against Manheim Township, Austin had 13 kills, 13 blocks and 14 digs, and Brayden had 23 assists, 13 digs and a pair of aces.

DISTRICT 3 PLAYOFF PICTURE

Heading into the final week of the regular season, eight L-L League teams are inside the bubble in their respective classifications to snag a playoff invite.

Class 3A: Warwick (3), Cedar Crest (5), Hempfield (11), Cocalico (13) and Penn Manor (16) are inside the 16-team window. … Those three straight wins to cap last week helped the Comets, who muscled their way into the top-16. … Manheim Township (19) and Conestoga Valley (21) need fast finishes — and help — to make it. … Warwick fell to No. 4 Central York in last year’s finale. … Cumberland Valley is at No. 1 to start the week.

Class 2A: Manheim Central (1), Lancaster Mennonite (5) and Northern Lebanon (10) are all safely inside the 14-team bubble. … Linville Hill Christian out of the Commonwealth Christian Athletic Conference is at No. 4. … As mentioned, Manheim Central is at No. 2 York Suburban for a must-see nonleague tilt on Monday. That could be a finals preview. … The D3 playoffs, in both classifications, start May 20.

Undefeated D3 squads heading into the week: Manheim Central (13-0), Cumberland Valley (14-0), Governor Mifflin (13-0) and Central York (12-0).

DISTRICT 3 BOYS VOLLEYBALL POWER RATINGS

PVCA BOYS VOLLEYBALL STATE RANKINGS

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NAPERVILLE – The Carthage men’s track & field team competed in the second and final day of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Outdoor Track & Field Championships at North Central College on Saturday. The team competed hard across all events, leading to a fifth place team finish. 

1. North Central – 236
2. Illinois Wesleyan – 139
3. Augustana (Ill.) – 125
4. Millikin – 85.5
5. Carthage – 81
6. Wheaton (Ill.) – 58.5
7. North Park – 38
8. Carroll (Wis.) – 32
9. Elmhurst – 24

SPRINTS

The 4x100m relay consisting of Christopher Seals, Shawn Rodgers, Luke Shugarman, and Dylan Parker placed seventh with a time of 43.30. The squad scored two points.

Parker placed fourth in the 400m with a time of 49.30.* He later followed that up with a sixth place finish in the 200m with a time of 22.33.* Parker registered eight points between the two events.

The 4x400m relay consisting of Tre Mitchell III, Michael Barber, Shugarman, and Chase Upmann, placed eighth with a time of 3:25.32. 

DISTANCE

Upmann placed second in the 800m with a time of 1:55.89.* Upmann picked up eight team points in the event

Jacob Curulewski placed sixth in the 5000m with a time of 14:55.04.* Curulewski registered 

JUMPS

Kedrick Johnson III placed fifth in triple jump with a mark of 13.73m.*

THROWS

Shot put contributed twelve points to the team score with Tyler Rose placing second with a personal best throw of 15.32m.* Lucas Leal placed fifth with a mark of 14.35m.*

Leal placed third in the discus throw with a throw of 45.92m.*

*Performance earned All-CCIW honors

• Jacob Brost’s winning throw from day one in the javelin now ranks second on the Carthage all-time list, trailing behind Dan Ledman (2002) at 61.35m.
• Freshman Harlan Matson entered the Carthage top ten list with his 9:35.74 performance in Friday’s 3,000m steeplechase. Matson ranks seventh for the Firebirds, passing Cameron Fischer (2023) at 9:36.45.

“While a 5th place finish is a disappointing team result for us,” said Head Coach Josh Henry. “We still had several outstanding performances that shouldn’t go unnoticed. 

Jacob [Curulewski] had arguably one of the best distance double performances in school history with a 30:33 10k followed by a 14:55 5k. He is truly an outstanding competitor who put it all out there this weekend. 

Another impressive weekend came from Dylan [Parker] in the sprints who qualified for the 400m and 200m finals on day 1. Day 2 consisted of anchoring the 4×100 relay, the 400m finals, and 200m finals an hour later. That was 5 high level races and he left everything out on the track this weekend. 

In the throws we had several standout performances led by Jake [Brost] winning the Javelin throw on his last attempt making for a dramatic way to win a conference title. The other performances that really stood out from that group were Tyler [Rose] and Lucas [Leal] in the shot put. Tyler competed very well throwing a lifetime best when it mattered most to become the conference runner up in the event. Lucas also was impressive in the shot for other reasons. This was the first time he competed in the event this year due to an elbow injury. He worked through discomfort to score crucial points for the team and showed a lot of grit. 

Probably one of the most unsung performances this weekend came from freshman distance runner Harlan [Matson]. He doubled in the 3k steeple and 1500m, narrowly missing scoring in both. His performance in the steeple ranks seventh in school history and was the top performance in the conference among freshmen. It also is the 12th best performance in NCAA Division III among freshmen this season. Falling short of scoring with a performance of that caliber truly showcases the level of competition in the CCIW. 

Overall I’m incredibly proud of how our team competed and how they represent our program on a daily basis. We will be graduating several incredible people who have been outstanding leaders for this team. I would like to thank them for their dedication and leadership over the years. They’re leaving the program with an outstanding culture that’ll help elevate our underclassmen and incoming freshmen class. The future is bright for the Firebirds.”

Carthage men’s track & field will be back in action Friday May 9, at the Penultimate Qualifier hosted by Augustana (Ill.) in Rock Island, Ill. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.