MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine Beach Volleyball and head coach Marcio Sicoli have announced the full schedule for the 2026 spring season. The season kicks off at home on Feb. 20.
"We are excited for the Spring 2026 schedule," said head coach Marcio Sicoli. "We decided to challenge our team with a mix of home tournaments and top teams in the west! We are excited to be back in Hawai'i this season and look forward to seeing all the waves of fans in Malibu!"
The Waves begin the season on campus for the Pepperdine Challenge (Feb. 20-21). The Waves will take on Vanguard and Washington on Feb. 20 before matching up with Washington and Long Beach State on Feb. 21.
They will stay local to compete in the annual Battle 4 L.A.—facing a trio of neighboring schools in CSUN, UCLA, USC (Feb. 27-28).
From there, they jetset to Hawai'i for a three-day tournament on the islands against UNC Wilmington and San Jose State on March 5, Concordia and Saint Mary's on the 6, and finishing with Aloha State schools Hawai'i and Chaminade on the 7.
They then return stateside to host back-to-back showcases. The Malibu Invite starts on March 13 with Texas A&M Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) and Hope International, and concludes the following day with Cal State Bakersfield and a rematch with Hope International. Tulane and Vanguard (March 20) will kickstart the ASICS Classic, with matches against LMU and Concordia set for the following day.
After a brief intermission for the West Coast Conference (WCC) Midseason Challenge in Santa Cruz, Calif. (March 27-28), the Waves travel to Corpus Christi, Texas (April 3-4). Louisiana-Monroe and Cal State Bakersfield are the Waves' first foes, before they take on Tarleton State and host TAMU-CC on April 4.
The Waves Tourney will serve as the team's home finale, Senior Day, and Alumni Day—with competition set for April 10 and 11, respectively. Pepperdine welcomes Concordia and San Francisco to start, before hosting a rematch against the Dons and Vanguard the following day.
The regular season concludes with a battle in the bay, as the blue and orange travel up the I-5 to face fellow Golden State schools Cal, San Jose State, Cal Poly, and Stanford in Stanford, Calif (April 17-18).
WCC Championships are set for April 23 and 24 in the Santa Monica neighborhood of Ocean Park, Calif.
The 2026 season will usher in the regular season debuts of ten team newcomers. Julia Caruolo joins as a grad transfer from Miami (FL). While there, she founded and served as the president of the Canes Beach Volleyball Club. In 2022, she began her collegiate career indoors as a member of the Iona volleyball team.
Next is Michaela Cyrani, a freshman from the Czech Republic. In early December, she represented her national team at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures. Additionally, she is a U20 European champion, a U19 World champion, and a U18 Central European champion.
Evie Doezema joins the Waves as a grad transfer from Michigan State. Her spring season with Pepperdine will be her first outdoor collegiate action. While with the Spartans this fall, she exploded for 17.5 points and 16 kills against Western Michigan (Sept. 8).
Alice Jagielska is another international first-year that associate head coach Noelle Rooke helped to recruit. Alice calls London, England, home and has competed throughout the British Isles and into Europe.
Freshmen Emma Kramer (Franklin, Tenn.) and Sonia Mancuso (Santa Barbara, Calif.) are eager to suit up for the Waves.
Grad transfer Alexa Markley brings NCAA National Championship experience to the team. She was a member of the 2024 Penn State indoor squad that captured the title before transferring to compete with Washington this fall. Against No. 10 Purdue (Sept. 25), she posted a career-best 19 kills. She is utilizing her remaining eligibility to play beach volleyball with the Waves.
Ginevra Merlini, a three-time MVP and two-time national champion from Italy, is joining Pepperdine for her freshman year.
Maddy Snow joins the team from Temecula, Calif. She had an eventful fall season, teaming up with reigning WCC Freshman of the Year Emma Eden, to punch one of 64 bids to the 2025 AVCA Beach Volleyball National Championship Tournament. The two finished above multiple Power 4 pairs after three days of high-level competition in Huntsville, Ala., this November.
Nicole Thorp rounds out the batch of Pepperdine newcomers. She is a freshman from Newport Beach, Calif., who competed with JSerra Catholic HS during a stretch that saw them consistently ranked within the nation's top ten.
The team will return eight members from last season's squad that finished third in the WCC.
Pepperdine Beach Volleyball Schedule
Feb. 20 Vanguard (10 a.m.) Pepperdine Challenge - Malibu, Calif.
Feb. 20 Washington (12 p.m.) Pepperdine Challenge - Malibu, Calif.
Feb. 21 Washington (10 a.m.) Pepperdine Challenge - Malibu, Calif.
Feb. 21 Long Beach State (2 p.m.) Pepperdine Challenge - Malibu, Calif.
Feb. 27 CSUN (12 p.m.) Battle 4 L.A. - Los Angeles, Calif.
Feb. 27 at USC (2 p.m.) Battle 4 L.A. - Los Angeles, Calif.
Feb. 28 Long Beach State (12 p.m.) Battle 4 L.A. - Westwood, Calif.
Feb. 28 at UCLA (2 p.m.) Battle 4 L.A. - Westwood, Calif.
March 5 UNC Wilmington (10:30 a.m.) Hawai'i Tournament - Honolulu, Hawai'i
March 5 San Jose State (3:30 p.m.) Hawai'i Tournament - Honolulu, Hawai'i
March 6 Concordia (10:30 a.m.) Hawai'i Tournament - Honolulu, Hawai'i
March 6 Saint Mary's (3:30 p.m.) Hawai'i Tournament - Honolulu, Hawai'i
March 7 at Hawai'i (11:45 a.m.) Hawai'i Tournament - Honolulu, Hawai'i
March 7 Chaminade (3:30 p.m.) Hawai'i Tournament - Honolulu, Hawai'i
March 13 TAMU-CC (3:30 p.m.) Malibu Invite - Malibu, Calif.
March 13 Hope International (1 p.m.) Malibu Invite - Malibu, Calif.
March 14 Cal State Bakersfield (9 a.m.) Malibu Invite - Malibu, Calif.
March 14 Hope International (3 p.m.) Malibu Invite - Malibu, Calif.
March 20 Tulane (10 a.m.) ASICS Classic - Malibu, Calif.
March 20 Vanguard (2 p.m.) ASICS Classic - Malibu, Calif.
March 21 LMU (9 a.m.) ASICS Classic - Malibu, Calif.
March 21 Concordia (3 p.m.) ASICS Classic - Malibu, Calif.
March 27 Portland (10 a.m.) WCC Mid-season Challenge - Santa Cruz, Calif.
March 27 Santa Clara (2 p.m.) WCC Mid-season Challenge - Santa Cruz, Calif.
March 28 TBD WCC Mid-season Challenge - Santa Cruz, Calif.
April 3 Louisiana Monroe (10 p.m.) TAMU-CC Tournament - Corpus Christi, Texas
April 3 Cal State Bakersfield (1 p.m.) TAMU-CC Tournament - Corpus Christi, Texas
April 4 Tarleton State (6 a.m.) TAMU-CC Tournament - Corpus Christi, Texas
April 4 TAMU-CC (8 a.m.) TAMU-CC Tournament - Corpus Christi, Texas
April 10 Concordia (10 a.m.) Waves Tourney - Malibu, Calif.
April 10 San Francisco (2 p.m.) Waves Tourney - Malibu, Calif.
April 11 San Francisco (10 a.m.) Waves Tourney - Malibu, Calif.
April 11 Vanguard (2 p.m.) Waves Tourney - Malibu, Calif.
April 17 Cal (11 a.m.) Stanford Tournament - Stanford, Calif.
April 17 San Jose State (3 p.m.) Stanford Tournament - Stanford, Calif.
April 18 Cal Poly (9 a.m.) Stanford Tournament - Stanford, Calif.
April 18 at Stanford (1 p.m.) Stanford Tournament - Stanford, Calif.
April 23 TBD WCC Championships - Santa Monica, Calif.
April 24 TBD WCC Championships - Santa Monica, Calif.
*Home matches are in bold
All Times Pacific
ABOUT PEPPERDINE BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Established in 2011, Pepperdine beach volleyball quickly rose to national prominence, winning two national championships in three years (2012, 2014) while reaching the final four in five of its first six seasons. Joining the WCC ahead of the 2016 season, the Waves won the inaugural and first three WCC Championships while reaching eight straight conference championship games from 2016-24. The program has consistently recruited top talent in the sport, with 21 student-athletes garnering All-American honors since 2012.
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine beach volleyball, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineBVB.
