NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships Start Friday

MALIBU, Calif. – The #5 Pepperdine beach volleyball team is set to open the NCAA Championships on Friday in Gulf Shores, Ala. this week after earning the #4 seed in the tournament. The Waves will take on #4-ranked and #5-seeded LSU in the opening round.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS – Friday-Sunday (May 3-5) at Gulf Shores Public Beach in Gulf Shores, Ala. | First round - #4 seed Pepperdine vs. #5 seed LSU at 8 a.m. PT

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL – NCAA.com/BeachVolleyball

COVERAGE – The Championships will be televised by ESPN networks, with ESPNU providing live coverage on Friday, May 3 starting at 7 a.m. PT. Live coverage will continue Saturday, May 4 on ESPN2, starting at 11 p.m. PT and Sunday, May 5 at 7:30 a.m. PT on ESPN2.

The championship dual will air on ESPN Sunday, May 5 at 11 a.m. PT. Additionally, live streaming coverage of every court throughout the tournament will be available on ESPN3.

FOLLOW - Follow all Pepperdine matches on Twitter and Facebook (@WavesBeachVB) for all updates before, during and after matches. Also, go to PepperdineWaves.com for updates, recaps and more.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FIELD & FORMAT –The finalists selected from the east region include, Florida State, LSU and Stetson. Pepperdine, Southern California and UCLA made up the west region selections; while Cal Poly and Hawaii were granted at-large bids.

The seeding is as follows: #1 USC, #2 UCLA, #3 Florida State, #4 Pepperdine, #5 LSU, #6 Cal Poly, #7 Hawai'i and #8 Stetson. Pepperdine has faced all opponents in the field, with the only exception being #8-seeded Stetson, amassing a 5-7 record against the other seven opponents in 2019.

The tournament is double elimination.

THE #5 WAVES – The Waves have gone 20-9 overall this season, including a 15-9 record against nationally ranked opponents. Pepperdine has posted a 10-1 record at Zuma Beach, a 3-2 record on the road and a 7-6 output on neutral sand.

No. 1 – Brook Bauer and Heidi Dyer have been the biggest presence in the No. 1 position, collecting a 14-7 overall record as a pair. Bauer has only played in the top-spot this season, gathering a 17-11 record with multiple partners, while Dyer has gone 20-8 this season with a 14-7 record in the top position and a 6-1 output when playing in the No. 2 position.

No. 2 – Gigi Hernandez and Deahna Kraft have been the primary pair in the No. 2 position, collecting on a 12-8 record together. Hernandez has gone 19-10 this season, including an 18-9 record in the No. 2 position as well as one win in the top position and one loss in the No. 3 spot. Kraft has posted a 16-13 output altogether, with an 11-9 record in the No. 2 position and a 5-4 record in the No. 1 spot.

No. 3 – Skylar Caputo and Alexis Filippone have been a solid presence in the No. 3 position this season, posting a 12-5 overall record as a pair. Caputo has gone 17-12 this season, with a 15-9 output in the No. 3 spot and an even 2-2 record in the No. 4 spot. She also lost once in the No. 2 position. Filippone has gone 18-10 this season, gathering a 12-7 output in the No. 3 position and a 6-2 record when playing in the No. 4 position.

No. 4 – Nikki Lyons and Maddie Dilfer have also performed well as a pair, helping the effort from the No. 4 position with a 10-6 record this season. Dilfer has gone 15-13 in the position with a 0-5 record from the No. 2 or No. 3 positions. Lyons has gone 15-11 overall with an 11-6 output in the No. 4 sot and a 4-3 record in the No. 5 position. She also lost twice in the No. 3 slot.

No. 5 – Katie Gavin and Simone Priebe have spent the most time in the No. 5 position, collecting a 12-5 record for the Waves. Gavin has gone 17-9 overall this season with a 16-8 record in the No. 5 slot and a 1-1 output in the No. 4 position. Priebe has gone 15-8 overall this season, with a 15-6 record in the No.
5 position and an 0-2 output when playing in the No. position.

WAVES IN THE SHOW – Pepperdine is one of just two programs nationally that have earned a bid to every single postseason tournament, including both AVCA and NCAA. The other program that has done so is Florida State.

Although this season marks the fourth that the NCAA Championships will be in action, the Waves have a solid postseason record with two AVCA National Championship crowns to the program's name from the 2012 and 2014 campaigns. The win in 2012 marked Pepperdine's first-ever national championship by one of its women's teams. Also in 2013, the Waves earned AVCA runner-up status and in 2015, the team advanced to the AVCA semifinals. Between 2012 and 2015, the Waves went 11-3 at the AVCA National Championship.

In the inaugural NCAA Championships in 2016, the Waves went 1-2 with a win over No. 6 Arizona and losses to No. 2 USC and No. 4 UCLA. In 2017, Pepperdine advanced to the NCAA Championship final against USC. The Waves made it a 2-2 match with the final court reaching a 13-13 tie in the third and final set before the Trojans picked up the win. Last season, Pepperdine won through the opening round, but was felled in the following two rounds by Hawai'i and USC to bow out of the tournament.

OPPONENT NOTES – The Waves have gone 4-1 against LSU all-time, playing the Tigers four times in 2018 and winning all contests including a first round matchup in the NCAA Tournament. This season, the two teams have faced off once, with LSU taking the victory.

WEST COAST CONFERENCE POSTSEASON ACCOLADES – Brook Bauer repeated with a top honor this season, tabbing WCC Defender of the Year honors. She, along with Heidi Dyer and Deahna Kraft were named to the All-WCC first team. Gigi Hernandez and Skylar Caputo also tabbed second team acclaim, while Simone Priebe earned a spot on the All-Freshman squad.

WCC PAIR OF THE MONTH – Skylar Caputo and Alexis Filippone tabbed the first West Coast Conference monthly accolade of the season, after a stellar performance on the sand in March. The duo went 10-3 overall, including a 9-3 output in the No. 3 slot and a 1-0 performance in the No. 4 position. The duo went 9-3 against opponents from ranked opposition and tabbed three clinches, including a most recent clinch against #2 USC for an exciting 3-2 finish at Zuma Beach.

ZUMA BEACH –The Waves call Zuma Beach "home," practicing and hosting all home events at one of Malibu's most picturesque locations. Courts are located just west of Point Dume, between Towers 2 & 3 or at the 29800 block of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Since 2012, Pepperdine has gone 47-3 (.940) at home. The Waves won 13-straight matches from 2012 through 2014. The Waves went 3-1 in 2015, and 9-1 in 2017, but had uncontested home seasons with a 9-0 output in 2016 and an 8-0 record in 2018. The Waves lost for the only the third time at Zuma Beach this season against the Bruins.

WCC CHAMPIONSHIPS - The Waves had won back-to-back-to-back West Coast Conference Championship titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018, with a series of three-straight wins en route to each title. In 2018, the Waves won all three matches in the tournament with sweeps, defeating Portland in the opening round before downing Saint Mary's twice for the crown. In 2019, the Waves were felled by PCH Cup rival LMU in the final two rounds to finish second in the conference.

THEY CAN DO IT ALL — Seniors Nikki Lyons, Heidi Dyer and Jenna Tunnell are the only three current Waves to be competing for both Pepperdine's indoor women's volleyball program and beach volleyball program at a competitive level. Lyons and Dyer are each starters on the indoor squad and have seen ample amounts on the beach with Dyer being a three-year starter and each Wave seeing time in the NCAA and WCC Championship tournaments last season. Tunnell took some time off from the beach to focus on her indoor career, but returned this spring to aid the Waves' efforts.

HEIDI DYER, THE TITANIUM WOMAN — Junior Heidi Dyer had an interesting road to NCAA Division I athletics and AVCA Beach All-American status. When she was 12, a major scoliosis curve of over 60 percent forced her to get corrective surgery. She had two titanium rods fused to her spine to keep her back straight. Despite her parents being told she would never play volleyball again and may never walk again, she defied all odds and became one of Pepperdine beach and indoor volleyball student-athletes. During the 2016 NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship season, TurnerSports and NCAA.com did a feature piece on her that streamed throughout the NCAA tournament and aired on TBS. It was voted one of the top-10 features on NCAA.com last season.

SKIES THE LIMIT – Many of the Waves participate in all that Southern California has to offer. Skylar Caputo often competes in outrigging when not in season, along with surfing, paddle boarding and hiking any nearby mountains for fun.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL HISTORY – The Pepperdine women's beach volleyball program has been at the forefront of the sport since it was introduced in 2012. The Waves went a perfect 14-0 in dual match play and won the inaugural AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Team Championship in Gulf Shores, Ala. Pepperdine's Caitlin Racich -- the program's first-ever scholarship recipient -- and partner Summer Ross took home the pairs national crown as well. In 2013, the Waves marched back to the national title match but fell 3-2 while playing shorthanded. The Waves returned with a vengeance in 2014, going 18-1 en route to the national championship title. The Waves boast a nation-best 20 AVCA All-Americans: Lara Dykstra (2013, 14), Lilla Frederick (2012, 13), Kim Hill (2012, 13), Kelley Larsen (2014, 15), Caitlin Racich (2012, 13), Ross (2012), Becca Strehlow (2014), Kellie Woolever (2014, 15), Taylor Racich (2016), Heidi Dyer (2016), Delaney Knudsen (2017), Madalyn Roh (2017), Corinne Quiggle (2018) and Deahna Kraft (2018). Hill stands as the first, and to date only, student-athlete to earn AVCA All-American first team honors in both indoor and sand volleyball in a single season. The Waves have also charted eight Volleyball Magazine All-Americans and six VolleyMob All-Americans throughout history. In 2018, the Waves swept the West Coast Conference big awards: Corinne Quiggle (Player of the Year), Deahna Kraft (Defensive Player of the Year) and Brook Bauer (Freshman of the Year). 18 Waves have earned All-WCC honors, with 12 first team selections.

SICOLI – The 2019 beach season will see Marcio Sicoli at the helm for the first time, as legendary former head coach and beach volleyball pioneer Nina Matthies retired at the completion of the 2018 season. He will be the second head coach for Pepperdine beach volleyball in recorded history. As an assistant Matthies on the beach, Sicoli has helped the Waves amass a 137-23 overall record over the seven seasons of the sports existence. Sicoli joined Matthies' indoor coaching staff prior to the 2008 season, coached both beach and indoor teams with Matthies from 2012, and focused on beach volleyball with the Waves beginning in the 2014 season. Sicoli is highly lauded for his approach to training and served as head coach for Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings during their gold-medal run at the 2012 London Olympics as well as the Walsh Jennings and April Ross bronze medal run at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Olympica. Sicoli also served as the assistant coach for the Brazilian Olympic Women's Beach Volleyball Team from 2000 to 2004. In 2004, his team of Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede took home the silver medal in Athens. He currently serves as coach to 2016 Olympic hopefuls Walsh Jennings and April Ross.

NCAA STATUS - This season marks the fourth season which beach volleyball will be an NCAA-sanctioned sport, with the NCAA Championships to be held again in Gulf Shores, Ala. from May 3-5. The last three seasons marked the first that the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships was held in Gulf Shores, with USC take home the first two titles and UCLA winning the most recent one. Previously, collegiate sand volleyball, completed the fourth and final year as an "emerging sport" in the 2015 season. It was given 10 years to gain the minimum 40 sponsoring institutions for two years in a row to be considered an NCAA Championship sport. With requirements met in record time, sand volleyball was voted into NCAA Championship Sport status in 2015. The NCAA will host only a team championship, and not a pairs championship.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE - Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I Championships in five different men's sports — one of just 17 schools to have accomplished this feat — and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 25 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks No. 50 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.

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Players Mentioned

Brook Bauer

Skylar Caputo

Maddie Dilfer

Heidi Dyer

Alexis Filippone

Katie Gavin

Gigi Hernandez

Deahna Kraft

Nikki Lyons

Simone Priebe

Corinne Quiggle

Madalyn Roh

Jenna Tunnell

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