The Tulane Green Wave wrapped up their most successful campaign in program history with a loss at the NCAA Championships.
The Tulane Green Wave beach volleyball team made history multiple times in an incredibly successful season campaign that ended with their historic debut at the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship, where they lost in a 3-0 dual as the No. 14 seed against the No. 3 UCLA Bruins. Despite the sweep at Gulf Shores, the Green Wave finish with a 26-14 record, which marks their sixth-straight 20-win season.
The Bruins took their first point in the fifth flight, where they defeated Lauren Mann and Avery Burks 21-12 and 21-13. Molly Trodd and Skylar Ensign were defeated at the top flight, falling 21-16, 21-14 to give UCLA a 2-0 lead. At the second flight, Emma Morris and Katie Hansen dropped the clinching match 21-10, 21-16. Over at the fourth flight, McKenzie Cutler and Sam O'Connor made some program history, winning their first set 26-24 in a marathon, which is the first set win in program history at the NC Beach Volleyball Championship, and were leading 12-9 in an unfinished second match when the dual ended in favor of UCLA. Rounding it out at the third flight, Amirah Ali and Tawny Ensign dropped a tight first set 22-20 and were down 16-11 when the contest concluded.
The Wave didn’t go down easy, putting up a dog fight at several flights, and they were already underdogs when it came to their No. 20 ranking and No. 14 seeding against the Bruins, who were No. 3 both in ranking and seeding heading into the tournament.
And while that loss in Alabama marked the end of their campaign, Tulane has a lot to proud of in their 2026 season. Head coach Eyal Zimet was named CUSA Coach of the Year after the team won their first CUSA title. Trodd, S. Ensign, Hansen and Morris all earned First-Team All-CUSA honors, while Ali was tabbed by the All-CUSA Second Team.
With their CUSA title and NCAA appearance, it cements 2026 as the most successful season ever in program history. The Wave finally avenged three straight years of making the CUSA championship, making it to the title match and dropping it the previous two seasons before finally winning the title in a 3-0 sweep over the No. 1 Florida Atlantic Owls as the No. 5 seed.
That legacy is cemented. Tulane will now look to return to the sand in fall 2026 before launching their conference title defense in spring 2027 as they hope to build on the historic momentum from this season.