Preview: Center of Effort Challenge

Friday, April 10

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

2:30 p.m.

TCU

USC

Preview: Center of Effort Challenge

4/9/2026 2:37:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball

Live Stats

No. 8 TCU set to take on elite competition

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – After a week off, the eighth-ranked TCU beach volleyball team is set to take on four elite programs during the Center of Effort Challenge at Swanson Beach Volleyball Courts.

THE MATCHUPS

Friday
2:30 p.m. – No. 8 TCU vs. No. 4 USC
7:30 p.m. – No. 8 TCU vs. No. 7 LMU

Saturday
1:30 p.m. – No. 8 TCU vs. No. 1 Stanford
TBD – Final Match

NOTING THE FROGS

TCU is coming off the program's first ever National Championship in 2025. With the win, the Horned Frogs also became the first team other than UCLA or USC to hoist the trophy.
Entering the 2026 season, TCU is the second-winningest program in collegiate volleyball dating back to the 2021 season.
In 2025, the Horned Frogs won the inaugural Big 12 Championship marking the program's third consecutive conference crown. TCU is one of just three programs nationally to have accomplished this feat (LMU and Georgia State).
Of the 12 Horned Frog starters in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, just four are returning to Fort Worth this season. 2025 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Sofia Izuzquiza joins Anhelina Khmil, a member of the 2025 Big 12 Pair of the Year (alongside Ana Vergara), as the headlining returners to Fort Worth this season. Other starters returning are Stacy Reeves and Deniela Konstantinova, who started at No. 5 in the postseason last year.
TCU utilized the transfer portal to fill out its roster for 2026, picking up Anna Long (Florida State), Adriana Serrano Ferro (Grand Canyon) and Natalie Glenn (Long Beach State). These transfers enter with a great deal of experience from their previous institution.
In the season opener against No. 11 Arizona State, none of TCU's starting pairs had competed together in a collegiate match.
Head coach Hector Gutierrez is in his 10th season as TCU's leader and has orchestrated the meteoric rise of the program. He currently has a career record of 235-85.
Big 12 Beach Volleyball has a new look going into its second season, as the conference added Florida State, South Carolina and Boise State.
TCU was one of the earliest beach volleyball programs in Texas, starting varsity competition in 2016. This was the same year that NCAA beach volleyball officially became sanctioned.