Top Flight Winners

LEXINGTON, KY. (May 5, 2023) — LMU Beach Volleyball's Madi Firnett and Isabelle Tucker have been named Top Flight award winners for their record from Flight Five this season. The Top Flight program, now in its fifth year, recognizes beach pairs who compete in at least 15 matches together at a specific flight and win at least 75% of their matches. This year, 54 pairs representing 32 schools—from all three NCAA divisions, NAIA and Two Year Colleges—are Top Flight.
 
Firnett and Tucker are in their first year paired together and have posted a 26-6 record from Court Five heading into the NCAA Tournament. The junior and freshman combo have played together all season with 32 of their 34 results together coming from the Five Court.
 
The Top Flight awards program is designed to recognize excellence in collegiate beach volleyball from all over the country and across all flights. The nature of Beach Volleyball dictates that each player fills an important role on the team - each pair must give their greatest effort to help the squad clinch the three wins necessary to defeat the opponent. It takes all 10 athletes performing at a high level to achieve greatness. With this in mind, the AVCA created this award to reward the hard work and consistent play of pairs at every flight. In order for a pair to be eligible for the award, two athletes must compete in at least 15 matches together and at a specific flight number. Should that pair win at least 75% of their matches – regardless of the overall result of the dual – those athletes will achieve "Top Flight" status.
 
Coming off a fourth-consecutive West Coast Conference Championships, the Lions are back in Gulf Shores, Ala., to compete in the NCAA Championships on May 5-7. The Lions open the National Championships on Friday as the six-seed and will face 11-seed Hawai'I in an opening round matchup. The dual is scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM CST, which is 2:00 PM back in Los Angeles. The opening round matchups will air on ESPNU and ESPN Plus. This year's tournament is a single elimination style bracket with the winners advancing and the teams that lose ending their seasons.
 
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