The annual NCAA Beach Volleyball Tournament was held in Gulf Shores over the weekend, where over a dozen schools competed for the national title.
16 schools from across the nation competed in the weekend tournament, ranging from the likes of Florida State, Texas, LSU and Stanford, but TCU and Loyola Marymount (LMU) ultimately met in the National Championship, which was played on Sunday morning.

Leading up to Sunday, LMU upset the four-time defending champions, USC, in the quarterfinals before coming back from behind to defeat UCLA, one of only three schools to even reach the finals, in the semifinals to punch their ticket to the National Championship game. Meanwhile, TCU defeated Georgia State, Texas and Cal Poly en route to their championship appearance.

In the end, TCU claimed their first national title, finishing with a 32-5 overall record, becoming the first school other than USC and UCLA to win the national championship. The Trojans won the first two, along with the most recent four in a row, while the Bruins won two straight from 2018 to 2019.

TCU's Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno, both of whom took a year off to participate in the Paris Olympics last year, came back and helped the Horned Frogs seal the victory in the final match. They lost their first game 18-21 to LMU's Michelle Shaffer and Anna Pelloia but rallied to win the final two 21-15 and 15-6.

Sunday's championship game was played in single-elimination duals with 10 players split into five pairs from each team. The dual meet match is played in five best-of-three sets, with each pair's match being worth one point.

The NCAA Beach Volleyball Tournament has become a new but iconic addition to the Gulf Shores area. Last December, a five-year agreement was reached that would keep the tournament in Gulf Shores until 2031 after what was initially supposed to be a two-year stint in California, according to previous reporting from Gulf Coast Media. However, NCAA and city officials decided to move it from Huntington Beach back to Gulf Shores this year in wake of the wildfires that impacted southern California in January. The event will return to the West Coast next year as originally scheduled before returning to Gulf Shores from 2027 through 2031.

The agreement to bring the sport's culminating tournament to the Alabama Gulf Coast is thanks to the city's ability to grow with the event, with the NCAA setting attendance records each year since the sport was originally sanctioned for championship play in 2016, GCM previously reported. Before then, the American Volleyball Coaches Association sand championships were held in Gulf Shores since 2012.

"The commitment to invest and support these championships in terms of facilities, staffing, marketing and more were integral data points to our decision-making process. We feel the efficiency of scale that can be realized with these long-term commitments between the NCAA and our hosts provides an opportunity for more enhancement of these championships, leading to an increased student-athlete and fan experience moving forward," said Anthony Holman, NCAA vice president of championships and alliances, in a Dec. 9, 2024, announcement about the three-year extension of 2029-2031.

Improvements on the sand included additional spectator stadium seating and hospitality space. The television compound, marketing resources and student-athlete experiences were also mentioned as enticing amenities for the top collegiate beach volleyball players in the country.

GCM reported in March that the tournament was part of Alabama's Beaches — formerly Gulf Shores | Orange Beach Sports & Events — earning the second-highest economic impact in the state in 2024. Across 123 events on the beach, Alabama's Beaches recorded 123,641 hotel nights and an economic impact of $80.4 million.

With 91 events, Foley Sports Tourism recorded 31,615 hotel nights helped bring in an economic impact of $47 million to the city for the fifth-highest economic impact in the state last year. Birmingham was the leader where 150 events led to 261,989 hotel nights and an economic impact of nearly $250 million.