LOS ANGELES – LMU Beach Volleyball claimed every major award from the West Coast Conference following a record-extending seventh-consecutive conference title. Led by seven-time WCC Coach of the Year John Mayer, this year's Lions include the WCC Pair of the Year, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, the WCC Freshman of the Year, four members of the All-WCC First Team, two members of the All-WCC Second Team, and two members of the WCC All-Freshman Team.
 
Mayer has guided the Lions to the #7 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament after going unbeaten at the WCC Championships and earning the conference's automatic bid. Across all WCC sports, Mayer is the first head coach to win seven consecutive WCC Coach of the Year awards, surpassing six in a row from Gonzaga's Mark Few in men's basketball from 2000-2006 and Pepperdine's Michael Beard in Men's Golf from 2016-2022.
 
The WCC named LMU's Ones Team as WCC Pair of the Week. Anna Pelloia and Tanon Rosenthal went 17-6 from the first position this season, including wins over pairs from NCAA Tournament teams in Grand Canyon, Long Beach State, Stetson, Texas, and USC. Both Pelloia and Rosenthal earned All-WCC First Team recognition as well.
 
Chloe Hooker has been named the WCC's first-ever back-to-back and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Hooker surpassed the program record with 111 career wins after going 28-8 this season with over a dozen wins at both the two's and three's courts. Hooker also returns to the All-WCC First Team for a third season. Hooker's partner at the two's court, Ines Piret, was named to the All-WCC First Team as well after posting a 27-8 record from the top two positions.
 
In her first year of college beach volleyball, Josefine Schaekel has been named WCC Freshman of the Year. Schaekel won 26 matches for the Lions this season to become the program's seventh recipient of the Freshman of the Year award since 2017. Schaekel and teammate Kiana Stevenson were both named to the WCC All-Freshman Team as well.
 
Ellie Davis had a breakout season and led the team with 29 wins on the year on her way to earning All-WCC Second Team Honors. Magdalena Rabitsch returns to the All-WCC Second Team after finishing tied for second in the program with 28 wins.
 
The Lions have been selected as the 7-seed for the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The opening round matchup will be against 10-seed at 2:00 PM CT / 12:00 PM PT on Friday, May 1.
 
2026 NC beach volleyball championship format
The 2026 NC beach volleyball championship bracket will consist of 16 teams, with eight making it as automatic qualifiers via conference championships. The selected teams will be seeded Nos. 1-16 in the bracket.

The championship will then be played in single-elimination duals with 10 student-athletes split into five pairs from each team. The dual meet match is formatted in five best-of-three sets, pairs matches, with each pairs match being worth one point.
 
2026 NC beach volleyball championship tickets
Tickets are available for purchase online.
 
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