The top teams and players in college in the western United States came together in Manhattan Beach last weekend to compete in the SoCal Challenge. The exhibition tournament gave fans a chance to see their teams in action for the first time since the National Championships last may. The weather was perfect and the atmosphere on the beach was ideal for the debut event.
Nine schools competed in what was not quite a full round robin. Loyola Marymount only played on Saturday but ended up the only unbeaten team in dual play. They defeated Hawaii, Long Beach State and UCLA. CalPoly surprised USC on Saturday, but the Trojans ended up with a 5-1 record over two days. UCLA, and Pepperdine ended up 4-2 over two days and Grand Canyon was 3-3
| Team | Dual Record | Match Record | ||
| Wins | Losses | Wins | Losses | |
| LMU | 3 | 0 | 12 | 3 |
| USC | 5 | 1 | 21 | 9 |
| UCLA | 4 | 2 | 21 | 9 |
| Pepperdine | 4 | 2 | 16 | 14 |
| GCU | 3 | 3 | 14 | 16 |
| Cal Poly | 2 | 4 | 13 | 17 |
| LBST | 2 | 4 | 13 | 17 |
| UH | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| U of A | 0 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
For a complete list of match and dual results, visit the SoCal Challenge results page here.
This great event is set to become a regular feature on the beach volleyball calendar for years to come.
Tina Graudina is the most recognizable face to readers of The Beach Volley Blog, but there were many other highly talented players on the sand. NCAA beach volleyball is very competitive with more and more top international talent and AVP regulars honing their skills at the college level.
The SoCal Challenge organizers provided these excellent photos.