MPSF Adds Beach Volleyball as Record-Setting 12th Sport
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) has announced the addition of beach volleyball to its list of sponsored sports beginning with the 2025 season. The news marks the third sport in the last two calendar years to be added to the conference. Twelve sports for the MPSF exceeds the previous all-time high of 11 during the 2010-13 academic years as well as the current 2021-24 three-year stretch. MPSF Beach Volleyball will feature California, Grand Canyon, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Washington, all of which are entering their final year with the Pac-12 Conference except for the Antelopes, who competed as an independent in their first 10 years before moving to the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) ahead of the 2023 season.
“The MPSF is extremely excited to provide beach volleyball student-athletes an incredible conference experience on the west coast,” said MPSF Adminstrative Committee Chair and Grand Canyon Senior Associate Athletics Director Tim Baron. “We look forward to working alongside the athletic directors, administrators, coaches and student-athletes of these distinguished universities.”
The inaugural MPSF Beach Volleyball Championship Tournament is scheduled for April 2025, with the specific dates and location to be determined. The 2025 NCAA Championship Tournament will be held May 2-4 in Huntington Beach, California for the first time.
USC has won five of the seven NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships, including the last three, while UCLA has captured the other two titles. Entering the 2024 season, USC (236-38; .861) and UCLA (246-41; .857) have an astonishing combined record of 482-79 (.859) in their NCAA Beach Volleyball histories, and have routinely finished in the top-three of the national rankings. The Trojans and Bruins are members of the MPSF in men’s and women’s water polo as well as men’s volleyball. Both USC and UCLA are headed to the Big-10 as their primary conference starting in the fall of 2024.
“Amidst so much change in the world of collegiate athletics, it is great to see the steps that are being taken in order to promote the growth and visibility of beach volleyball,” said USC Head Coach Dain Blanton. “I think USC joining the Big Ten Conference was certainly a huge step in the right direction and for us, we are excited to be able to maintain a high level of competition among the teams that we will join the MPSF with. I am hopeful it will continue to bring more attention to one of the most exciting sports in the world. The MPSF has been a fantastic partner throughout this process and has long served as a strong west coast presence for so many sports including men’s volleyball when I was a student-athlete. We are looking forward to working with the league as the 2025 season approaches.”
UCLA Head Coach Jenny Johnson Jordan added, “we are excited for the opportunity to join the MPSF in August of 2024, in time for the 2025 beach volleyball season. Our student-athletes will greatly benefit from playing in a conference that is established and well-known in the west and is recognized for its success, particularly with our current men’s and women’s water polo and men’s volleyball teams already members. We are looking forward to joining a conference with a successful reputation, having won 107 NCAA team championships in seven different sports in its 31-year history. Our student-athletes are excited to have an opportunity to compete for a new conference title and earn accolades awarded by the MPSF. We also believe that becoming a member of the MPSF will help promote and provide opportunities to grow the sport.”
Oregon and Washington, also on the move to the Big-10, have previous affiliations with the MPSF. The Ducks were in the MPSF in women’s lacrosse from 2005-2017, and along with the Huskies, were in the conference for men’s and women’s indoor track and field from 1993-2021. Washington won 21 beach volleyball matches in 2023, finished the year ranked in the top-15, and was on the cusp of an NCAA Tournament bid.
Stanford and California are on the move to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) starting in the fall of 2024. The Cardinal has the most MPSF membership of any school, competing in men’s and women’s water polo, men’s gymnastics, men’s volleyball, artistic swimming, and fencing. The Golden Bears, meanwhile, compete in the MPSF in men’s and women’s water polo and men’s gymnastics. Stanford and Cal both turned in their most successful beach volleyball seasons in 2023, each winning 29 matches and recording their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.
“We are thrilled for our student-athletes to compete as a member of the MPSF starting in 2025,” said Stanford Director of Athletics Bernard Muir. “Stanford has enjoyed a storied tradition and long-standing affiliation with the MPSF in many Olympic sports dating back 30 years, making this move such a natural fit. Our beach volleyball program has continued to steadily improve in recent seasons and membership in the MPSF will help maintain our national standing, preserve important rivalries, and position us to compete against the country’s most elite teams.”
California Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton added, “We are excited to have our beach volleyball program join the MPSF. It was important for our student-athletes to continue to compete at the highest level, and the MPSF will certainly allow us to do that. I am looking forward to watching our team play against some of the best teams in the nation in the MPSF.”
Grand Canyon accumulated back-to-back record-setting 26 beach volleyball victories and appeared in the program’s first two NCAA Championship Tournaments in 2022 and 2023. The Antelopes have finished in the top-10 national rankings the last four years. GCU is primarily affiliated with the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and competes in the MPSF in men’s volleyball.
Since the 2021 hiring of MPSF Executive Director Foti Mellis, 25 teams, 12 schools, and three sports have been added across the entire conference. The 12 sports currently lined up in the MPSF for 2024-25, in addition to beach volleyball are men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s water polo, men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s indoor track & field, men’s and women’s swimming & diving, fencing, and artistic swimming. The MPSF entered the 2023-24 academic year with 107 total NCAA Championships. The conference won four NCAA titles in 2022-23, fourth-most among all Division-I conferences trailing only the ACC, SEC, and Pac-12.
“The MPSF is honored and ecstatic to add Beach Volleyball,” said Mellis. “As the newest sport to enhance our incredibly talented portfolio, beach volleyball joins other MPSF sports that are highly ranked and considered the best in the country. The caliber of teams represented in USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Washington, Oregon, and Grand Canyon expands the intensely competitive nature of the MPSF. With five teams ranked in the top-10 in last season’s final poll, the level of competition will be exciting to watch. The MPSF is proud to continue its history as a trusted organization providing enhanced competition and championship opportunities for sports without conference affiliation. We see the addition of beach volleyball as a beginning of what is possible as college athletics navigates the evolving nature of conference realignment – an evolution we are excited to be part of.”
MPSF Beach Volleyball information, including specific championship details, will be forthcoming on the conference website at mpsports.org and on social media @MPSFSports.