The opening weekend of the 2017 NCAA beach volleyball season concluded on Sunday with a lot of program history being made.
The South Carolina Gamecocks picked up a pair of 5-0 wins on Sunday, which moves them to 4-0 so far this season – matching the best start in program history. That includes a victory over #11 FIU, the weekend highlight, which should be enough to move them into the top 15 of the AVCA coaches’ poll when it’s released this week.
While that loss marred a 5-win weekend for FIU, they do have some consolation – their 4-line (Estefanie Bethancourt/Anabela Sataric) and 5-line (Taija Thomas/Margherita Bianchin) are both 6-0 in their games this weekend.
The 14th-ranked Cal women also opened their season undefeated by picking up wins over regional rivals Santa Clara and Cal Poly. Their primary rivals, Stanford, are also undefeated, but have more uncertainty as they look to progress in their ‘great experiment.’ Freshman pair Kathryn Plummer and Jenna Gray, both of whom have a primary background indoors, are just 1-3 this season playing under pressure at the 1-line for the Cardinal.
The 10th-ranked LSU Tigers rebounded from a disastrous Saturday to beat #9 Stetson on Sunday – a win that keeps them in the hunt for one of the 8 spots at the NCAA tournament in May. Also on the gulf coast, #15 Tulane has backed-up their early season ranking by going 4-0 (20-0 in counting games, and all 4 6th-line exhibition wins to boot).
And a special congratulations to the new program at Austin Peay. The Goernors didn’t win a match in the first weekend in program history, but they did get a historic first game when their 1 line pair of Ginny Gerig and Jenna Panning beat UAB’s Avei Longoleo/Erika Zembyla on Sunday in a hard-fought 3 (21-14, 19-21, 15-13).
Full results from Sunday’s action:
| Winning Team | Losing Team | Score | Winning Team Recap | Losing Team Recap |
| #8 Georgia State | North Florida | 5-0 | Link | Link |
| #8 Georgia State | Spring Hill | 5-0 | Link | Link |
| #10 LSU | #9 Stetson | 3-2 | Link | Link |
| #11FIU | Charleston | 4-1 | Link | Link |
| #11 FIU | UNCW | 5-0 | Link | Link |
| #13 Stanford | Pacific | 3-2 | Link | Link |
| #13 Stanford | Saint Mary’s | 4-1 | Link | Link |
| #14 Cal | Santa Clara | 4-1 | Link | Link |
| #14 Cal | Cal Poly | 3-2 | Link | Link |
| #15 Tulane | UL Monroe | 5-0 | Link | Link |
| #15 Tulane | Austin Peay | 5-0 | Link | Link |
| South Carolina | College of Charleston | 5-0 | Link | Link |
| South Carolina | North Florida | 5-0 | Link | Link |
| Pacific | Santa Clara | 4-1 | Link | Link |
| UAB | UL Monroe | 5-0 | Link | Link |
| UAB | Austin Peay | 4-1 | Link | Link |
| St. Mary’s | Cal Poly | 3-2 | Link | Link |
| UNCW | Spring Hill | 4-1 | Link | Link |
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