MIAMI (April 29, 2018) – The FIU beach volleyball team made school history on Sunday night as the Panthers earned the programs first-ever NCAA Championship Finals bid. FIU is one of eight teams selected for the 2018 NCAA National Collegiate Championships, being held May 4-7 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The Panthers enter the championships as the eight seed and will face the top-seeded UCLA Bruins in the first match of the tournament on Friday, May 4, at 10 a.m. ET. FIU joins UCLA (one-seed), Pepperdine (two-seed), Hawaii (three-seed), Florida State (four-seed), two-time defending national champion, USC (five-seed), South Carolina (six-seed), and LSU (seven-seed).
The Panthers, who come into the championships with a 22-10 record, are two victories shy of equaling the most wins in a season in the short six-year history of the program (24 wins in 2017). UCLA, the Pac-12 Champions, are 35-3 on the year.
Click here for the 2018 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship page.
Click here for complete interactive championship bracket.
Click here to purchase NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship tickets
"I am beyond excited for my team," said FIU Head Coach
Rita Buck-Crockett. "These ladies have worked so hard for this chance and it has come to fruition. It's especially exciting for the seniors who were freshmen the last time we were at Nationals (AVCA Championships in 2015) just to watch. I'm so proud for FIU to be recognized as one of the premier beach volleyball teams in the nation. Hard work gets you there, and perseverance and our game faces will keep us going."
The winner of the FIU-UCLA dual will face the winner of USC and Florida State on Friday at 4 p.m. ET. The losers from each of those matches will face off in the elimination bracket on Friday at 2 p.m.
All of Friday's duals will be televised live on ESPNU.
The Panthers and Bruins met twice this season with UCLA winning both duals, 3-2, on March 10 in the East Meets West Classic in Manhattan Beach, California, and 5-0, in the Surf 'N' Turf Invitational on March 30, on South Beach.
FIU advanced to its second-straight Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Tournament semifinal on April 22, in Emerson, Georgia, before falling to the No. 1 seed – and eventual tournament champions – Florida State.
FIU's schedule boasts seven teams who are currently ranked in the Top 15 of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaches Poll, and 11 that sit in the top 20.
The Panthers have three pairs ranked in the top 12 of their respective positions, as ranked by colegebeachvb.com …
Federica Frasca and
Margherita Bianchin are No. 7 at the one position, while
Natalia Giron and
Estefanie Bethancourt are No. 12 at the four-spot, and
Mariana Dal Pozzo and
Taija Thomas are ranked No. 10 at the No. 5 position.
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