Tulane Beach Volleyball Receives Bid to AVCA Pairs National Championship

The Tulane Green Wave women's beach volleyball program is heading to another national championship.

For the second time in program history, the Green Wave will be competing in the AVCA Pairs National Championship. The team had a strong performance in the AVCA Central Pairs Qualifier over the weekend, finishing with an 18-2 record in Saturday action and a 14-4 record on Sunday.

The duo of Tawny Ensign and Kaydence Stormes placed third in the bid division to secure the trip to the championship for Tulane. The pair swept the LSU New Orleans Privateers before meeting with the LSU Tigers in the semifinals of the division. Though the Green Wave would take a loss to the team out of Baton Rouge, the duo bounced back with a big win over the Southeastern Louisiana Lions to clinch third place and secure a championship appearance.

Skylar Ensign and Katie Hansen competed in the consolation bracket of the bid division after falling early in the day. The pair took revenge on everyone, taking down the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi Islanders and another LSU New Orleans group to finish in ninth place out of 16 teams. 

Other student-athletes had the chance to get in on some action on the day through non-bid divisions: aqua, blue and pink.

In the aqua division, Tulane claimed the No. 2 seed in the gold playoffs. Elly Beshears and Liz Selinger swept the McNeese State Cowgirls, then Selinger paired up with teammate Gabby Dwyer to clinch a three-set win over one LSU pair. Dwyer and Celia Hendrickson took on another LSU duo in the finals, with the Green Wave once again winning in three sets to claim the aqua title. 

The Olive Green and Sky Blue had much of the same success in the blue division. Naomi Lygas and Lauren Mann won in straight sets against another Tigers team, then Lygas and Beshears teamed up to take down McNeese. Olivia Johnson and Mann tamed yet another LSU pair in the finals to clinch the blue division championship.

Tulane had three pairs participating in the pink division as the second, third and fourth seeds in the gold playoffs. The duo of Hannah Foor and Seligner finished as the runners-up in the match, while Gigi Gallegos and Gabbi Kucinski came in fourth. Loreta Cabule and Hendrickson competed as the fourth seed, falling early in bracket play. 

Up next, Tulane will hit the road to Birmingham, Alabama, for the AVCA Team Event, happening on October 24th and 25th.