Kamila Tan and Jordan Anderson at USAVBKamila Tan and Jordan Anderson at USAVB
Matt Brown

Seniors Jordan Anderson (left) and Kamila Tan are playing together for the first time this season.

Bruins at Inaugural Collegiate Beach Pairs Championships

Beach Volleyball

Three Bruin pairs (two women's/one men's) are competing at the Hermosa Beach Pier in Hermosa Beach, Calif. (May 11-13).


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LOS ANGELES -- UCLA beach volleyball is being represented by four Bruins at the inaugural USAV Beach Collegiate Pairs Championship at the Hermosa Beach Pier in Hermosa Beach, Calif. from May 11-13.

The Bruins' pairs are competing for the first collegiate individual title in the sport since the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) crowned pairs' champions from 2012-15. UCLA is one of 15 schools represented among the 24 selected women's pairs.

The championship is being hosted by USA Volleyball and is a dual-gender, consisting of 24 women's pairs and 11 men's pairs. The champion from each will earn a spot on a USA Volleyball collegiate beach national team. NBCSN will air the women's final live on Saturday, May 13, at 3 p.m. PT, with the men's final to follow on a taped-delay basis.

Seniors Kamila Tan and Jordan Anderson were seeded 13th and placed in Pool A, going 1-1 on the first day of the tournament today, defeating #12 Lindsey Knudsen/Payton Rund (Saint Mary's) in three sets (22-20, 12-21, 15-13) before falling to #1 Kelly Claes/Sara Hughes (USC) in straight sets, 22-20, 21-11. The seniors are playing together for the first time this season.

UCLA's other pair is also playing together for the first time in 2017. Freshmen Madi Yeomans and Lily Justine were seeded 15th and placed in Pool C, going 1-1 on Thursday as well. The pair defeated #10 Joy Dennis/Abril Bustamante (USC) in the first match, 21-17, 21-16, but dropped the second match to #3 Delaney Knudsen/Madalyn Roh (Pepperdine) in straight sets, 21-12, 21-12.

On the men's side, Jackson Bantle and Hagen Smith from the UCLA indoor team, are seeded second and were placed in Pool B. They are currently 2-0 with straight-set wins over #11 Matt Yoshimoto/Jake Walenga (Lewis), 21-10, 21-9 and #8 Tyler Hedley (Palomar College)/Vincent Pizzuti (Long Beach State), 21-14, 21-17.

The round-robin pool play will wrap tomorrow morning and a 16-team single-elimination bracket will be formed and play down to a champion beginning on Friday, May 12, with the quarters, semis, and championship match set for Saturday, May 13.

For more information on the championships or for the complete schedule and results, click here.