No. 11 Sandy Owls Ready for March to May

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The No. 11th-ranked Florida Atlantic University beach volleyball team (7-3, 2-0 in Conference USA) is set to compete against some of the best beach volleyball programs in the country this weekend at the May to May. The tournament, hosted by UAB, will be held in Gulf Shores, Alabama, the same place where the NCAA Championship is held. March to May starts tomorrow and goes into Sunday. FAU will face off against five different opponents, four of which are in the AVCA Top 20 Poll.

Match Schedule

Friday, March 18

Noon – vs. No. 1 UCLA
3 p.m. – vs. No. 15 South Carolina

Saturday, March 19

11 a.m. – vs. No. 7 Grand Canyon
3 p.m. – vs. UAB

Sunday, March 20

9 a.m. – vs. No. 5 LSU

All times are Eastern

Series History vs. Tournament Field

Grand Canyon

All-time record: 1-2
Last time out: L, 2-3 at FIU Surf N' Turf (3/30/19)

LSU

All-time record: 3-7
Last time out: L, 0-5 at Tiger Beach Challenge (3/6/21)

South Carolina

All-time record: 2-6
Last time out: W, 3-2 at Stetson Spring Fling (2/27/21)

UAB

All-time record: 6-1
Last time out: W, 5-0 at FSU Beach Bash (2/27/22)

UCLA

All-time record: 0-4
Last time out: L, 0-5 at FIU Surf N' Turf (3/30/18)

Scouting the Competition

Grand Canyon

The Lopes have commenced the season 8-2, highlighted by wins against No. 8 Stanford (3-2), No. 11 Cal Poly (3-2) and No. 12 Arizona (4-1)
GCU features a strong group of players, including Anaya Evans (England) and llanis Navas (Puerto Rico), who played for their respective national teams

LSU

The Tigers come into Gulf Shores with a perfect 13-0 record, knocking down ranked opponents, such as No. 15 Pepperdine (4-1), No. 17 Georgia State (3-2) and No. 19 South Carolina (4-1)
Parker Bracken and Kylie Deberg are coming off being named the AVCA National Pair of the Week and are a perfect 9-0 on court two
Kelli Greene-Agnew and Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope were selected to the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Preseason Team

South Carolina

South Carolina has opened up the season 7-5 with marquee wins coming against No. 15 Pepperdine (4-1) and No. 20 Florida Gulf Coast (5-0)
Whitley Ballard is 10-2 on the season, winning on all five spots in the lineup with five wins against ranked opponents
Skylar Allen and Jordan Smith were tabbed to the CCSA Preseason Team with Allen being named a unanimous selection

UAB

The tournament's host is 5-8 to begin the season with a 2-1 C-USA play mark. UAB has endured a few tough 3-2 losses, including against Tulane, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Houston Baptist this past weekend in Baton Rouge
Rachel Tam was tabbed to the C-USA Preseason All-Conference Team. Tam and her partner Adriana Pereira lead the Blazers on court one with a 7-6 mark

UCLA

The Bruins enter the tournament undefeated at 9-0. UCLA's biggest wins have come against No. 1 USC (3-2), No. 7 Grand Canyon (3-2) and No. 7 Stanford (4-1)
Sophie Moore and Natalie Myszkowski are a perfect 9-0 on court four, while Lexy Denaburg posts an 8-1 record on court one this season
UCLA is the NCAA Champion runner-up after falling to USC 3-1 in the title match

Stetson Sun-N-Sand Invite

FAU split its matches at the Stetson Sun-N-Sand Invitational this past weekend
The Owls opened things up with a thrilling 3-2 victory over No. 18 Stetson. FAU was up 2-0 after wins on courts one and three, but the Hatters tied up the match after claiming courts two and five
Jillienne Cangelosi and Christine Jarman clinched the match on court four following a three-set comeback win, 19-21, 21-19, 15-10
The start of the tournament was pushed back due to rain, leading to the Owls' match versus No. 2 USC only being played until one team clinched. FAU fell 3-0 with Erica Brok and Mackenzie Morris falling just short of claiming court one with a three-set loss to the Trojans' No. 1 pair (18-21, 21-18, 15-12)
The Owls have moved up one spot in the AVCA Poll to No. 11, which ties for the program's best ranking

Upcoming

FAU will head back to DeLand, Florida for the Stetson Beach Bash from March 26-27. The Owls will face Stetson and three C-USA opponents in Coastal Carolina, Georgia State and FIU.

Owls on Social Media

For complete coverage of FAU beach volleyball, follow us on Twitter (@FAUBeachVB), Instagram (@FAUBeachVB) and Facebook (FAU Beach Volleyball).

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Erica Brok

Jillienne Cloud

Christine Jarman

Mackenzie Morris

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Event: Women's Beach Volleyball versus FGCU on October 11, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Beach Volleyball versus FIU on October 11, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Beach Volleyball versus Stetson on October 25, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Beach Volleyball versus Tampa on October 25, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Beach Volleyball versus North Florida on October 25, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Beach Volleyball versus Florida State on October 25, 2025

Florida Atlantic University Athletics