| NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship | |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Dates: | May 4-6, 2018 |
| Num Teams: | 8 |
| Defending Champions: | USC Trojans |
| Champions: | UCLA Bruins |
| Runner-Up: | Florida State Seminoles |
| Matches: | 14 |
| Prevseason: | 2017 |
| Nextseason: | 2019 |
The 2018 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship was the third annual tournament deciding the NCAA champions for the 2018 collegiate beach volleyball season. It took place May 4-6 in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and was hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It was a double elimination tournament, with a single championship match.[1] [2]
The tournament was open to teams from Divisions I, II, and III. The top three teams each in the East and West Regions qualified automatically, and two additional teams were selected at large. Selections for the tournament were announced on April 29 on NCAA.com.[3]
| Team | Record | Bid Type | Region | Appearance | Last Bid | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 35–3 | Automatic | West | Third | 2017 | |
| Pepperdine | 24–3 | Automatic | West | Third | 2017 | |
| Hawaii | 35–3 | Automatic | West | Third | 2016 | |
| Florida State | 27–7 | Automatic | East | Third | 2016 | |
| USC | 25–12 | At-large | West | Third | 2017 | |
| South Carolina | 24–7 | At-large | East | Second | 2017 | |
| LSU | 26–12 | Automatic | East | Second | 2017 | |
| FIU | 22–10 | Automatic | East | First | Never |
At the conclusion of the championship, the following pairs were announced as members of the All-Tournament Team.[5]
| Pair Rank | Team | Players | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | Nicole McNamara & Megan McNamara | |
| 2 | Florida State | Katie Horton & Hailey Luke | |
| 3 | Hawaii | Carly Kan & Laurel Weaver | |
| 4 | Pepperdine | Skylar Caputo & Alexis Filippone | |
| 5 | UCLA | Izzy Carey & Megan Muret |
In December 2017, ESPN was awarded a 5-year contract to provide television coverage of the NCAA Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship, beginning with the 2018 season.[6] In addition, the Selection Show for the championship tournament was broadcast on April 29 at NCAA.com.[7]
The 14 dual matches comprising the entirety of the championship were broadcast on the following channels:[8]