Three local beach volleyball players will be competing in the NCAA Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship Tournament this weekend in Gulf Shores, Ala.
Taylor Wilson and Chloe Hoffman are playing for third-seeded Stanford and Portia Sherman is representing No. 10 Cal. Hoffman and Sherman are graduates of Dos Pueblos and Wilson is a San Marcos alum.
Wilson, a senior, and the sophomore Hoffman helped Stanford win the inaugural Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference championship last week in Huntington Beach. The Cardinal did not lose a match in the double-elimination tournament to earn an automatic berth in the 16-team NCAA Finals. They upset No. 1 UCLA and beat No. 5 USC twice en route to the MPSF crown.
Stanford will open the NCAA Tournament against 14th-seeded Boise State on Friday.
Sherman and the Cal Bears take on No. 7 Texas in their NCAA opener on Friday. Sherman, a junior, and sophomore partner Emma Donley last week won their 27th match together, tying the Cal single-season record for wins by a pair.
The local ties at the NCAA Tournament extend to the coaches as well.
Cal Poly coach Todd Rogers is an alum of San Marcos High and UC Santa Barbara. The 2008 Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball is guiding the Mustangs to their fifth NCAA appearance. They reached the semifinals last year. Cal Poly opens against No. 11 LSU.
UCSB alum Brooke Niles is coaching Florida State to its ninth NCAA Tournament in her 10 years at the helm. The eight-seeded Seminoles face No. 9 Long Beach State in the first round.
The other first-round matches are: No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 16 Chattanooga; No. 2 TCU vs. No. 15 Georgia State; No. 4 Loyola Marymount vs. No. 13 Florida Atlantic; No. 5 USC vs. No. 12 North Florida. All dual matches are single elimination.
Every match will stream live on ESPN2, except for the national championship, which will air on ESPN.
