FORT WORTH, Texas - The inaugural Big 12 Beach Volleyball Championship is set to get underway on Thursday at the TCU Beach Volleyball Courts. Arizona, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, will take on No. 2 seed Arizona State at 9:15 a.m. MST. The complete bracket is available below.
The four team, double elimination tournament will conclude on Friday at 11:00 a.m. with the championship match. All matches of the tournament will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live scoring will be available at
arizonastats.com.
Because the conference does not have the NCAA-required six teams in order to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, all four teams will be looking to improve their standing for an at-large berth for the selection show on Sunday.
TCU is the top seed and is ranked No. 2 in the country while ASU is No. 12 in the country and Arizona is receiving votes in the latest AVCA Top 20 poll released earlier this week. Utah is not ranked.
The Wildcats are 18-10 on the season and have won three of their last four matches, including a 4-1 decision against UTEP last Friday on Senior Day.
SERIES VS. OPPONENTS
Arizona vs. Arizona State - the Sun Devils won both meetings against Arizona this season.
Arizona vs. TCU - The Horned Frogs won the lone matchup this season with Arizona by a 4-1 margin.
Arizona vs. Utah - Arizona defeated Utah in both matches this season, picking up a 3-2 win on March 29 and then a 4-1 triumph on April 4.
NOTING THE WILDCATS
- The pair of Madeline Walker and Ashlyn Zilliken lead the Arizona team out of the No. 3 spot in the lineup. They have appeared in all 28 matches in that position and have compiled a 21-7 mark, including wins in nine of their last 10 matches.
- Elin Kaiser and Annie Kost are 14-7 overall this year and have won three of their last four matches in the No. 4 spot in the lineup.
- Kate Phillips and Adriana Nieves Papaleo are 15-13 on the year and have split time at the No. 1 and No. 2 pair in the lineup. Most recently, Nieves Papaleo and Phillips have been in the No. 2 spot, where they defeated Portland and UTEP.
- Brooke Boyko and Katie Lambeth have become staples in the No. 5 spot in the lineup over the past seven matches, posting a 5-2 record.
- Kylee Fitzsimmons and Brooke Blutreich started the season in the No. 1 spot in the order for six of the first eight matches and went 0-6. They moved to the No. 2 spot and gained confidence through the middle of the lineup before returning to the top spot the last three matches and posting a 2-1 mark.
