TCU wins first NCAA beach volleyball title

GULF SHORES, Ala. — Texas Christian University won its first-ever beach volleyball championship Sunday, marking the first time in tournament history that the University of California, Los Angeles or the University of Southern California didn’t take home the trophy. 

TCU defeated No. 4-seeded Loyola Marymount 3-2 in the title matches, according to the NCAA. The teams competed at 9:30 a.m. Sunday in Gulf Shores, Ala. TCU was seeded No. 2 heading into the tournament. 

TCU defeated Georgia State University, the University of Texas and Cal Poly to make it to the final. 

TCU’s No. 1 pair, Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno, also represented Spain at the Paris Olympic Games last summer. The pair is undefeated in the national tournament, according to TCU. 

Daniela Alvarez’s AVCA Collegiate Beach Player of the Year 

In the tournament’s nearly ten-year history, only UCLA and USC have won the sixteen-team tournament, according to the NCAA. USD has taken home the top prize since 2021. 

This was the Horned Frogs’ first appearance in the NCAA tournament. 

The team is coached by Hector Gutierrez, Majo Orellana and Daniel Lindsey.

The championship was played in single-elimination duals with 10 student-athletes split into five pairs from each team. The dual meet match is played in five best-of-three sets, with each pair’s match being worth one point.