Latvia's Ēbere and CowKlija go 4-2 at beach volleyball event as USC pair earns spot in fall championship

At a US college beach volleyball tournament, the top pair of the University of Southern California (USC, Los Angeles), Latvian Līva Ēbere and American Kennedy Kouklija, finished with four wins and two losses. The event served as qualification for a fall championship featuring the best pairs of the NCAA, the US collegiate sports association.

Day one

Ébere and Kouklija opened with two wins, but a loss cost them first place in their group, which would have sent them to the higher-level playoff bracket. They lost 19-21 and 17-21 to San Diego graduate students Kaitlyn Bradley and Madison White. White is a two-time NCAA champion with USC (2023 and 2024) who later moved to another school. She served aces at the end of both the first and second sets.

Day two

On the second day the pair played in the second-tier playoff bracket, which began with a defeat. They then won both of their remaining matches. In the deciding set against a pair from the University of California ("Cal"), they won 21-9 while their teammates watched from the stands and cheered them on.

Final and berth

USC's third-ranked pair, Madison Gelner and Jordyn Scribner, lost the final to Cal's Emma Donley and Julia Spreher 24-22, 14-21, 12-15. Even so, they secured a place at the AVCA Fall Collegiate Beach Championships, held on 6–8 November, which will bring together the best NCAA pairs.

Style of play

It was reported earlier that at the first tournament Ēbere and Sara Wood consistently played to a set pattern: while one served, the other worked as the blocker. This time Ēbere played as the nominal defender, while Kouklija took her usual blocking position.

The USC beach team has won seven titles at the US collegiate championship (2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024). Two of them (2021 and 2022) also went to Latvian Tīna Graudiņa.