Texas seeded No. 7 in first NCAA beach volleyball tournament appearance

AUSTIN (KXAN) — In its first year of eligibility, the Texas beach volleyball team is headed to the national tournament.

The Longhorns are seeded No. 7 and will take on No. 10 California in the first round of the NCAA tournament at 1 p.m., May 2 at Gulf Place in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Texas and Cal split their matches this season. The Longhorns earned a 3-2 victory at the East Meets West Invitational in Manhattan Beach, California, on March 15, and then a week later, the Golden Bears claimed a 3-2 win in Austin.

A first-round win would put the Longhorns in the quarterfinals against either No. 2 TCU or No. 15 Georgia State. In their only previous meeting, the Horned Frogs topped Texas 4-1 on March 8 in Fort Worth.

The Longhorns finished the regular season 27-9 with a Coastal Collegiate Sports Association championship, sweeping through the tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a win over South Carolina and two over Florida State. The team is 10-9 combined against teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament.

The Texas program has played two seasons but wasn't eligible for postseason play last season.

UCLA is the tournament's No. 1 seed. The national championship match is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., May 4, and will air on ESPN.