Pavan and Larson in Collegiate Beach Event

Nebraska volleyball All-American Sarah Pavan and Jordan Larson will team together to represent Nebraska at the POWERADE Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship in San Diego on Sunday, April 22 as CSTV and the AVCA announced the event Wednesday afternoon.

The one-day event features two-player teams from eight of the country’s top volleyball programs in a round-robin format. Pavan and Larson are the tournament’s top seed. They will be joined by teams from Stanford, Penn State, Minnesota, Texas, Florida, San Diego and Utah.

Pavan, a junior right-side hitter, was the AVCA National Player of the Year and Honda Award winner in 2006, leading the Big 12 in both kills and points per game, while hitting .313 on the season. She reached double figures in kills in 33 of 34 matches, including 10 matches with at least 20 kills. She is a two-time Big 12 Player of the Year and a three-time AVCA First-Team All-American.

Larson was a 2006 First-Team AVCA All-American after averaging 4.13 kills and 3.50 digs per game in 2006, helping the Huskers to a 33-1 record and the school’s third national title. The only player in the Big 12 ranked in the top 10 in both kills and digs, she was also third in the league in service aces and points per game and totaled a team-best 22 double-doubles.

“Along with our great partners the AVCA and AVP, we’ve taken the next step in developing the Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship, turning it into an annual must-see event,” said Tim Pernetti, Executive Vice President, Content, CSTV. “We’re proud to have created this unique Championship as part of the Collegiate Nationals and are excited to showcase the nation’s top college players and teams.”

“The collegiate beach championship is an exciting event for volleyball,” said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. “It gives us a venue to spotlight our elite young players and provides the opportunity for year-round exposure for our sport. The innovative thinkers at CSTV and the AVP absolutely ‘served an ace’ with this idea.”

The POWERADE Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship will adhere strictly to NCAA guidelines for college volleyball.

The Tournament will air in different segments on CSTV, beginning on Sunday, May 6 with a tournament preview show. The semifinals are scheduled to air on Friday, May 18, and Saturday, May 19 with the final airing on Sunday, May 20.

Tournament Pairing and Seeds
#1 Nebraska – Sarah Pavan (All-American and AVCA Player of the Year) / Jordan Larson (All-American)
#2 Stanford – Cynthia Barboza (All-American) / Bryn Kehoe (All-American)
#3 Penn State – Nicole Fawcett (All-American) / Roberta Holehouse
#4 Minnesota – Jessy Jones / Rachel Hartmann
#5 Texas – Ashley Engle (All-American) / Alyson Jennings
#6 Florida – Angie McGinnis (All-American) / Marcie Hampton
#7 San Diego – Jaimarie Sutherland / Andrea Csaszi
#8 Utah – Airial Salvo (All-American) /Sydney Anderson
* Seeding based on 2006 AVCA All-American teams and rankings