SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Seventh-ranked and top-seeded LMU won its seventh consecutive West Coast Conference Beach Volleyball Tournament title Friday afternoon in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Ocean Park Beach in Santa Monica.  
 
The Lions captured the tournament title, 3-1 in the championship dual against a hard charging Santa Clara team that was playing its fourth dual of the day. The fourth-seeded Broncos knocked off third seeded Saint Mary’s, 3-1, and then took down second-seeded Pepperdine 3-1 in consecutive duals to advance to the championship dual against LMU.
 
The Broncos kept their momentum going against LMU in the championship dual. With the championship played in flights, the fours and fives played first. Santa Clara captured the first point with a 21-16, 21-15 win by Ciara Cantlen and Alexandra Urbina at the fours.
 
LMU pulled even moments later with a 21-17, 21-17 win by Katie McCalister and Ellie Davis at the fives.
 
The second flight featured the ones, twos and threes as each team needed to win two matches to earn the trophy. Jaeya Brach and Magdalena Rabitsch took the first set 21-16 and cruised to a 21-5 second set win at the threes to secure LMU’s second point.   
 
The Lions took the first set at the ones and twos as well, including a hard-fought 22-20 win on court two. LMU inched closer to a title with both courts within one point of securing their match victory. The twos, led by the all-time winningest player in program history, Chloe Hooker, and her teammate Ines Piret, sealed it with a 21-14 second-set victory to win the match, which secured the dual and captured the conference title for LMU.  
 
Santa Clara, who faced three elimination duals to reach the championship dual, opened the day with a 3-0 win over fifth-seeded San Francisco and then followed with the back-to-back 3-1 wins over the Gaels and Waves.
 
LMU’s path to the title dual began with a 3-0 win over Pepperdine in the morning. The Lions finished the tournament 3-0 to secure the conference crown. They celebrated on court two after the clinch and then dumped a bucket of Gatorade on head coach John Mayer, then raced to take a celebratory dip in the Pacific Ocean with the championship in hand.  
 
The Lions earned the West Coast Conference automatic qualification and now await their seed to the NCAA Championship. The selection show is scheduled for Sunday at 10 a.m. PT.