TAMPA, Fla., April 22, 2026 –Th South Florida beach volleyball team is set to open postseason play at the Conference USA Championships, hosted in Youngsville, La. At Sugar Beach. The No.4 seeded Bulls will take on No.5 seed Tulane on Thursday April 23 at 2:00pm EDT in a first-round matchup.
South Florida finished the regular season at 19-13 overall and 3-3 in CUSA play.
Setting the Stage
South Florida enters the matchup with momentum from an earlier-season victory over Tulane, where the Bulls edged the then No.20 ranked Green Wave in a 3-2 decision during opening weekend. No. 5 Tulane finished the season 22-13, 1-5 in conference. The winner will advance to face the winner between No.1 seed FAU and No.8/9 seed Tarleton State or Sam Houston.
Opponents
The Conference USA field features a competitive nine-team bracket, led by No.1 Florida Atlantic Owls, followed by No. 2 University of Alabama Birmingham Blazers, and No. 3 Florida International University Panthers.Rounding out the field are No.6 Missouri State Bears, No. 7 University of Texas El Paso Miners, No.8 Tarleton State Texans, and No. 9 Sam Houston Bearkats.
Match Format
Each dual features five pairs competing simultaneously. USF's Pair 1 faces the opponent's Pair 1, Pair 2 vs. Pair 2, and so on through Pair 5. Each pair plays a match, and the team that wins at least three of the five pair matchups earns the program win.
Tournament information
Nine teams taking the sand in a double-elimination bracket with a single-elimination championship match competing for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
All matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
2026 Conference USA Beach Volleyball Championship Schedule
April 23-25- Youngsville, La. (Sugar Beach)
Thursday, April 23
Match 1 (9:30 a.m.) - (8) Tarleton State vs. (9) Sam Houston
Match 2 (11 a.m.) – (2) UAB vs. (7) UTEP
Match 3 (12:30 p.m.) – (3) FIU vs. (6) Missouri State
Match 4 (2 p.m.) –
(4) South Florida vs. (5) Tulane
Match 5 (3:30 p.m.) – (1) Florida Atlantic vs. Winner of Match 1
Match 6 (5 p.m.) – L1 vs. L2
Match 7 (6:30 p.m.) – L4 vs. L5
Match 8 (8 p.m.) – W6 vs. L3
Friday, April 24
Match 9 (9:30 a.m.) - W2 vs. W3
Match 10 (11 a.m.) – W4 vs. W5
Match 11 (12:30 p.m.) – W7 vs. W9
Match 12 (2 p.m.) – L10 vs. W8
Match 13 (3:30 p.m.) – W9 vs. W10
Match 14 (5 p.m.) – W11 vs. W12
Saturday, April 25
Match 15 (10 a.m.) – L13 vs. W14
Match 16 (12:30 p.m.)- Championship- W13 vs. W15
All times are listed in Eastern Time
Note-A-Bulls:
- Tourney Time: This marks the Bulls first Conference USA Championship appearance in program history.
- Matchup History: South Florida leads the all-time series 1-0 over Tulane entering Thursday's matchup.
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About USF Beach Volleyball
The University of South Florida Beach Volleyball program is the newest program in the now 21-team USF Athletics program. South Florida Beach Volleyball joined Conference USA on July 1, 2025. Pri Piantadosi-Lima was named South Florida's first-ever beach volleyball head coach on June 6, 2023. She also serves as the head coach of USAV Beach and the national team development program and was honored as the 2022 USA Volleyball Female Junior Coach of the Year. Before joining South Florida, Piantadosi-Lima helped launch the Eckerd College program in 2015 as an assistant coach and helped lead the program to its first AVCA national championship and two consecutive NCAA championship podium finishes.
– #GoBulls –
