Preview: NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships

Friday, May 1

Gulf Shores, Ala.

2 p.m.

TCU

LMU

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Anhelina Khmil holding a beach volleyball at the NCAA Championships

Preview: NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships

4/30/2026 10:02:00 AM | Women's Beach Volleyball

Championship Central TCU Notes

10th-seeded Horned Frogs open with No. 7 LMU on Friday at 2 p.m. on ESPN2

GULF SHORES, Ala. – Looking to defend its title, the 10th-seeded TCU beach volleyball team begins its NCAA Championships journey on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. when the Horned Frogs face No. 7 LMU on ESPN2 at Gulf Place Beach.

THE MATCHUPS

Friday
No. 10 TCU vs. No. 7 LMU – 2 p.m. (ESPN2)

Saturday
National Quarterfinal – 11 a.m. (ESPN2)
National Semifinal – 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Sunday
National Championship – 11:30 a.m. (ESPN)

MATCH DAY INFO

All matches will have a primary broadcast featuring announcers on ESPN2, with the championship being aired on ESPN. In addition, streams of all courts is available on ESPN+.

NOTING THE FROGS

• TCU is coming off the program's first ever National Championship in 2025. With the win, the Horned Frogs also became the first team other than UCLA or USC to hoist the trophy.
• Of the 12 Horned Frog starters in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, just four returned to Fort Worth this season. 2025 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Sofia Izuzquiza joins Anhelina Khmil, a member of the 2025 Big 12 Pair of the Year (alongside Ana Vergara), as the headlining returners to Fort Worth this season.
• Other starters returning are Stacy Reeves and Deniela Konstantinova, who started at No. 5 in the postseason last year.
• Three of these starters (Khmil, Izuzquiza, Reeves) headline TCU's 2026 lineup in Gulf Shores.
• TCU utilized the transfer portal to fill out its roster for 2026, picking up Anna Long (Florida State), Adriana Serrano Ferro(Grand Canyon) and Natalie Glenn (Long Beach State). These transfers enter with a great deal of experience from their previous institution.
• Glenn and Long are starting together at the No. 3 pair, and all three transfers saw time in the lineup this season.
• In the season opener against No. 11 Arizona State, none of TCU's starting pairs had competed together in a collegiate match.
• Head coach Hector Gutierrez is in his 10th season as TCU's leader and has orchestrated the meteoric rise of the program. He currently has a career record of 240-91.
• Big 12 Beach Volleyball had a new look going into its second season, as the conference added Florida State, South Carolina and Boise State.
• In the Big 12 Championship, TCU fell to Florida State in the conference title match. Newcomer Boise State advanced to the semifinal before falling to the Frogs.
• TCU was one of the earliest beach volleyball programs in Texas, starting varsity competition in 2016. This was the same year that NCAA beach volleyball officially became sanctioned.
• Of TCU's lineup for the NCAA Championships, four are newcomers this season to the Horned Frogs lineup. In addition, just two (Anhelina Khmil and Sofia Izuzquiza) were members of TCU's lineup last season, albeit with different partners at different positions.

NOTING THE TOURNAMENT
• TCU returns to Gulf Shores, Alabama, to defend its title as the No. 10 seed.
• The Horned Frogs open up with No. 7 LMU on Friday afternoon. The winner will face the winner of Texas and Georgia State on Saturday morning in the National Quarterfinal.
• TCU is utilizing the same lineup at the NCAA Championships as they used in the Big 12 Tournament, in which they advanced to the championship match with three wins.