Sandy Owls are NCAA Championship Ready

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The No. 10th ranked Florida Atlantic University beach volleyball team (22-10, 7-1 in Conference USA) is ready to roll at the program's first ever NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship. FAU, the No. 8 seed in the tournament, is set to face No. 9 seed Stanford tomorrow at 10 a.m. Eastern in Gulf Shores, Alabama. FAU and Stanford will be kicking off the tournament with their dual, which will be streamed on ESPNU. The first round is a single elimination bracket for all 16 teams with the advancing squads competing Friday, May 6 to Sunday, May 8 in a double elimination format.

Championship Central

Official bracket – HERE
Champ information – HERE

First Round Schedule and Seedings

Dual 1: (8) Florida Atlantic vs. (9) Stanford – 10 a.m.
Dual 2: (6) LSU vs. (11) Cal – 11 a.m.
Dual 3: (4) LMU vs. (13) Hawaii – noon
Dual 4: (1) USC vs. (16) UT Martin – 1 p.m.
Dual 5: (2) TCU vs. (15) Texas A&M – Corpus Christi – 2 p.m.
Dual 6: (3) UCLA vs. (14) Stetson – 3 p.m.
Dual 7: (5) Florida State vs. (12) Cal Poly – 4 p.m.
Dual 8: (7) Grand Canyon vs. (10) Georgia State – 5 p.m.

Series History vs. Stanford

All-time record: 1-0
Last time out: W, 3-2 at FIU Surf and Turf (4/3/15)

About the Owls

FAU is 22-10 entering the NCAA Tournament. The Owls' 22 wins marks a school record and the third time in school history FAU has achieved a 20-win season
The team is 6-6 against the 2022 NCAA Tournament field this season
The Owls have achieved nine wins over ranked opponents this year with its biggest victories coming against No. 5 LSU (3-2), No. 11 Georgia State (3-2), No. 15 FIU (5-0) and No. 18 Pepperdine
The Owls are led by an array of veteran pairs, including the dominating court one pair in Erica Brok/Mackenzie Morris. The pair is approaching the century mark with a career record of 95-30
Four-year player Jillienne Cangelosi has a 65-32 record in her career, which is the fourth most wins in school history
The team is composed of five freshmen, three sophomores, four juniors, three seniors and four graduates

Scouting the Cardinal

Stanford came in at No. 8 in the AVCA Poll prior to the Pac-12 Championship, sporting a 24-11 record with a 10-3 mark in conference play. Their 24 wins set a program record
The biggest wins for the Cardinal have come against No. 10 Hawaii (4-1), No. 11 Cal, No. 11 Cal Poly (3-2) and No. 14 Long Beach State (3-2)
Stanford is 5-9 against the 2022 NCAA Tournament field
The Cardinal beat Arizona State 3-0 in the first round, but fell to No. 3 UCLA (0-3) and No. 12 Cal (1-3) to be eliminated from the tournament
Xolani Hodel/Kate Reilly lead the team with an 18-8 record, with 14 of their victories coming from court one
Court two's Charlie Ekstrom/Maddi Kriz also have 18 wins with a 18-7 mark this season

FIU Beach Bash Tournament Recap

The Owls came up short in earning their second consecutive conference championship
FAU started out the tournament with a 4-1 win over (4) UAB, winning courts one, three and four in straight sets
The Owls were up on (3) Georgia State 2-0 after capturing courts one and two in straight sets, but dropped courts three, four and five in third sets to be upset by the Panthers, 3-2
FAU came up short against (2) FIU, 3-2. The dual was tied, leaving it up to court one, but FAU fell short in an exhausting point-by-point set three, dropping 26-24

Upcoming

With a win over Stanford, FAU will face the winner of (1) USC versus (16) UT Martin on Friday, May 6 at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Owls on Social Media

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

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Players Mentioned

Erica Brok

Jillienne Cloud

Mackenzie Morris

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