Oregon beach volleyball ended their season last week at the second edition of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship in Huntington Beach, CA. The attraction of the Ducks and other teams participation in this tournament is that the winner gets an auto-bid to the NCAA tournament.
On Wednesday, Oregon faced #20 Washington.
The Duck had just lost a close match to the Huskies on the previous Saturday to finish the regular season. They had played well enough that there was a realistic chance to defeat their northern rival, but it was not meant to be, with Oregon losing 1-3 to face an elimination match against LSU.
The tournament matches operate much like tennis matches, which is to say that when one side is the clear victor, the remaining matches are left unfinished.
Washington won the first two matches, but Oregon stayed in it with Gwen Fife and AJ Slojkowski picking up a win to close to 2-1. Washington’s third win left the final match unfinished, and the Huskies ended with a 3-1 victory.
Thursday’s match against #13 LSU was an elimination match, and while the Ducks were competitive in the match featuring Hanna Bjornson and Sofia Taylor, the Tigers kept the Ducks at bay and eliminated Oregon, 3-0.
While it is disappointing to end the season on a two-game skid, that should not diminish the success that these 2026 Ducks experienced. Head coach Kristian Kuld was in his first season, which ended with these notable landmarks:
- The program achieved a record 17 wins on the season
- Oregon had two wins over ranked opponents
- Five Ducks pairs finished with 10+ wins
Oregon beach volleyball ends with a 17-18 record, and left a couple of matches in the sand that they had a fighting chance to win. This team shows promise and we’ll see what a second season under the guidance of coach Kuld will bring.
