NCF Beach Volleyball will begin its quest for a Red Banner Thursday when it opens NAIA Women's Beach Volleyball National Invitational Play at the Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa, Arizona.
The Mighty Banyans will play two pool play matches on Thursday, as No. 6-seeded NCF will take on No. 2 seeded The Master's (Calif.) at 1 p.m. EST and No. 3-seeded Corban (Ore.) at 7 p.m.
NCF will not be eliminated regardless of Thursday's results, as the pool play results will determine seeding for Friday's single-elimination quarterfinals.
Important Links
Tournament Schedule and Live StatsÂ
Tournament Bracket
Of Note
- NCF is one of eight teams to reach the NAIA Women's Beach Volleyball National Invitational Play and are seeded No. 6. The other qualifiers are No. 1 seeded Southern Oregon, No. 2 The Master's (Calif.), No. 3 Â Corban (Ore.), No. 4 Ottawa University Arizona, No. 5 Ave Maria, No. 7 Arizona Christian and No. 8 Wayland Baptist (Texas).
- The Mighty Banyans earned their bid to Nationals by winning the Sun Conference regular season championship, going a perfect 10-0 in conference regular season play. It lost in the Sun Conference Tournament Championship to Ave Maria, which allowed two Sun Conference teams to secure a bid to Arizona.
- NCF's lineups will feature Sun Conference Pair of the Year Cassidy Casey and Oliva Fenstermaker at the No. 1 spot, first-team All-Conference Pair Kayla Gentry and Jayden Ponsford at the No. 2, Alba Romanos Gracia and Jayleen Santiago at the No. 3, Â Camilla Vaerini and Soraya Nacero at the No. 4 and Mariana Saba and Maria Luiza Barreis at the No. 5. Amanda Pizzol, Sibelle Dias, Morgan McGuire and Camryn Deem will be available as alternates for the Mighty Banyans.
- On the season, Casey and Fenstermaker are 14-2, Gentry and Ponsford are 9-3, Santiago and Romanos Gracia are 3-3, Nacero and Vaerini are 4-1, while Saba and Barreis have yet to play together.
Poll Play Matchups
| No. 2 The Master's (Calif.) vs No. 6 New College of Florida LIVE SCORING |
Matchups |
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| Â Pair 1 |
 TMU: Zoe Yates, Emma Winter vs NCF: Cassidy Casey, Olivia Fenstermaker |
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| Â Pair 2 |
 TMU: Ashlan VanGronigen, Isabela Rodriguez vs NCF: Kayla Gentry, Jayden Ponsford |
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| Â Pair 3Â |
 TMU: Ashlyn Unruh, Addy Brock vs NCF: Alba Romanos Gracia, Jayleen Santiago |
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| Â Pair 4Â |
 TMU: Macy Gebhards, Krista Brady vs NCF: Camilla Vaerini, Soraya Nacero |
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| Â Pair 5Â |
 TMU: Kayla Goodwin, Arianna DeRaffaele vs NCF: Mariana Saba, Malu Barreis |
| No. 3 Corban (Ore.) vs No. 6 New College of Florida LIVE SCORING |
Matchups |
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| Â Pair 1 |
 CRB: Emma Bischoff, Emmi Marks vs NCF: Cassidy Casey, Olivia Fenstermaker |
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| Â Pair 2 |
 CRB: Allyson Reid, Gabi Engels vs NCF: Kayla Gentry, Jayden Ponsford |
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| Â Pair 3 |
 CRB: Alexis Adebodun, Cammie Masanda vs NCF: Alba Romanos Gracia, Jayleen Santiago |
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| Â Pair 4 |
 CRB: Erin Scott, Emily Blagg vs NCF: Camilla Vaerini, Soraya Nacero |
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| Â Pair 5 |
 CRB: Jordan Faircloth, Rebecca Wilber vs NCF: Mariana Saba, Malu Barreis |
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Up Next: April 24 - NAIA QuarterfinalsÂ
