Pepperdine University has released the 2026 spring schedule for its women’s beach volleyball team, led by head coach Marcio Sicoli. The season will begin at home on February 20.
“We are excited for the Spring 2026 schedule,” said head coach Marcio Sicoli. “We decided to challenge our team with a mix of home tournaments and top teams in the west! We are excited to be back in Hawai’i this season and look forward to seeing all the waves of fans in Malibu!”
The Waves open their season with the Pepperdine Challenge, facing Vanguard and Washington on February 20, followed by matches against Washington and Long Beach State on February 21. They will then participate in the Battle 4 L.A., competing against CSUN, UCLA, and USC from February 27-28.
In early March, Pepperdine will travel to Hawai’i for a three-day tournament where they will play UNC Wilmington, San Jose State, Concordia, Saint Mary’s, Hawai’i, and Chaminade. Upon returning to California, they will host two events: the Malibu Invite (March 13-14) and the ASICS Classic (March 20-21), featuring teams such as Texas A&M Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC), Hope International, Cal State Bakersfield, Tulane, LMU, Vanguard, and Concordia.
After participating in the West Coast Conference Midseason Challenge in Santa Cruz (March 27-28), Pepperdine travels to Corpus Christi, Texas for additional competition against Louisiana-Monroe, Cal State Bakersfield, Tarleton State and TAMU-CC (April 3-4).
The Waves Tourney is scheduled as both Senior Day and Alumni Day on April 10-11. The team hosts Concordia and San Francisco before rematches with San Francisco and Vanguard.
To conclude regular season play before championships begin April 23-24 in Santa Monica’s Ocean Park neighborhood, Pepperdine faces Cal, San Jose State, Cal Poly and Stanford during an away tournament at Stanford from April 17-18.
This year’s roster features ten newcomers alongside eight returning players from last season’s squad that finished third in the WCC. Among new arrivals is graduate transfer Julia Caruolo from Miami (FL), who founded her previous school’s beach volleyball club; Michaela Cyrani of Czech Republic national team experience; graduate transfer Evie Doezema from Michigan State; Alice Jagielska from London; freshmen Emma Kramer of Tennessee and Sonia Mancuso of California; Alexa Markley—a national champion with Penn State—now transferring after a stint at Washington; Italian freshman Ginevra Merlini; Maddy Snow from Temecula who recently qualified for a national championship tournament with teammate Emma Eden; and Nicole Thorp from Newport Beach.
Pepperdine’s beach volleyball program was established in 2011. It won national championships in both 2012 and 2014 while reaching five final fours within its first six seasons. Since joining the West Coast Conference ahead of the 2016 season the program has won multiple conference titles and produced over twenty All-American athletes since its inception.
Fans can follow updates about Pepperdine beach volleyball through social media @PepperdineBVB.
