Starting July 21st and ending on the 25th, the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) held the juniors beach national championship tournament in Hermosa Beach, CA. This article covers the results from the girls 18U, 17U and 16U divisions.
18U
In the final match of tournament play, FSU commit Avery Junk (class of 2026) and CAL commit Abby Zimmerman (class of 2026) beat two UCLA Commits in Alina Ryan (class of 2025) and Mallory LaBreche (class of 2025) in a three set match with set scores of 17-21, 21-17 and 15-10. Junk and Zimmerman took home gold after being seeded seventh in tournament play and upsetting the third seeded team in FSU commit Brynn Hughbanks (class of 2026) and Texas commit Janie McCanna (class of 2027) in three sets during the semifinal round with set scores of 22-20, 18-21 and 15-10.
On the other side of the tournament, the fourth seeded Ryan and LaBreche upset the top seeded team in CAL commit Sarah Gyepes (class of 2026) and UW commit Shayla Martinez (class of 2026) in straight sets during the semifinal round of tournament play with both sets ending in a set score of 21-19.
17U
USC commit Lauren Leach (class of 2027) and Texas commit Ella Olsen (class of 2027) went undefeated in tournament play, without losing a set, beating SCU commit Sofie Meissner (class of 2026) and UNF commit Lauren Watson (class of 2026) in straight sets in the gold medal match with set scores of 21- 13 and 21-19. Leach and Olsen also beat Milana Rivera (class of 2029) and LSU commit Madison Vega (class of 2026) in straight sets in the semifinals of tournament play with both sets ending in a score of 21-14.
On the other side of the bracket, Meissner and Watson played a close match against LSU commits Christy Boulware (Class of 2027) and Anna Koehl (Class of 2027), beating the future Sandy Tigs in two sets with both sets ending in a set score of 23-21.
16U
In the final match of tournament play, Stanford commit Simrin Adams (class of 2027) and UCLA commit Sandie Souza (class of 2027) beat Sage Illian (class of 2028) and Dreya Scherfenberg (class of 2028) in a close match with set scores of 21-18 and 21-19. In the semifinals, Adams and Souza took down the second seed in tournament play by beating Cal Poly commit Ella Dueck (class of 2027) and Lucy Matuszak (class of 2028) in a three set match with set scores of 13-21, 21-16 and 15-10.
On the other side of the bracket, Illian and Scherfenberg beat TCU commit Meg Hearn (class of 2027) and Lia Ray (Class of 2028) in the semifinal round in straight sets with set scores of 21-17 and 21-19.
