After wrapping up the SCCVL season, some of our players had one last itch they needed to scratch - competing with teams from all over the country! We sent two pairs back to Huntington Beach for a two-day tournament that would be the final battle of 2024. Due to many of the teams participating not being in the Southern California league, there were many unknowns of how we stacked up against the East Coast and Midwest players. We didn’t pay this much attention though, because we are confident that UC San Diego has just as much talent as any other school out there, it’s just about how we play in crunch time.

Our first team (McGlynn/Rosencranz) on the first day was in a three-team pool consisting of UCLA, UCSD, and Maryland. They would lose to UCLA in competitive two sets, and take down Maryland confidently in three, leaving them 2nd in their pool with a record of 1-1 and a chance for the gold bracket. They would then play an Oregon team in a crossover, and won in two quick sets, finishing the day with a record of 2-1.

Our second team’s (Joros/Veitas) pool consisted of Maryland, UCSD, and Oregon. They would take down both of these teams in dominant fashion, leaving them 2-0 with a guaranteed spot in the gold bracket. They would then play Baylor, winning in two competitive sets, and losing in three to another Oregon team. These final two matches would determine their seeding in the gold bracket. They finished the day with a record 3-1.

On the second day, McGlynn/Rosencranz had a tough first game to play. They faced a competitive NC State team that was one of the favorites to win the tournament. After two extremely close sets, they lost 0-2 and were placed in the silver bracket. This meant a long day was ahead of them to win silver. They would play another NC State team first, winning in a hard-fought two sets, and then took on the Oregon team that beat our other pair in three, and redeemed that loss for UC San Diego, winning in three. This brought them to the silver finals, where they ultimately were taken down by a UCLA team that refused to make a mistake. This gave them a second-day record of 2-2.

For Joros/Veitas, the second-day path was a bit different. Since they were seeded high from the first day, they got a quick win for their first game against the NC State team that would play our first team in the silver bracket. They then played the NC State team that had just taken down our first team to kick them out of gold, so this meant revenge. With a large crowd forming and each rally feeling like it held the fate of the universe on the line, Joros/Veitas, unfortunately, fell in two sets, ending their day with a record of 1-1.

The tournament results ended with McGlynn/Rosencranz at 10th place overall and Joros/Veitas at 5th overall. This tournament had endless competitive volleyball and was a great weekend for the team overall. We as a program were more than happy with our performance at this year’s nationals, but a great program is never satisfied and never complacent… See you next year NCVF!