Tulane University women’s beach volleyball begins the 2026 season where it ended last year: on the edge of something bigger. The team isn’t the most well known throughout campus, but they are one of the most exciting, and they seem ready for a breakout year. Ask anyone in the program, and they’ll let you know — this year feels different.
The program has quietly been building for years, coming off a program-record 29 wins in 2025 and a run to the Conference USA Championship final — one of the most competitive conferences in college beach volleyball.
Now, as they enter the 2026 season, the team has a roster that is filled with experience and depth, poised to be a serious threat to the powerhouses in the NCAA.
Since the program’s founding in 2012, Tulane beach volleyball has been fighting an uphill battle against bigger name programs with bigger budgets. But the Green Wave earned wins over multiple ranked opponents last season, including wins over No. 16-ranked University of Washington and No. 18 spot Florida Atlantic University, and spent much of 2025 hovering around the top 20 teams, with an impressive 13-1 record at home.
Green Wave head coach Eyal Zimet, who led the University Hawai’i at Mānoa Rainbow Warriors to a national championship in 2002, was clear on the high standards and expectations he has for his team this year.
“Every year we feel like we’re starting with a higher threshold of both the understanding of the game … and strategy,” Zimet said in a court side chat. “Being able to start with a higher trajectory always helps.” He continued that the “expectations” for his team are to “continuously be at the top of the conference.”
Tulane is bringing back key players this season while adding some fresh faces. Senior McKenzie Cutler, hailing from Southlake, Texas, returns to the Green Wave as one of their strongest players. Cutler is coming off a strong season with a 20-19 record at number one position and a place on the All-Conference USA Second Team.
Sophomore Gigi Gallegos from Redondo Beach, California, was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team last year, finishing the season with an impressive 22-12 record.
Sophomore Avery Burks, from Gilbert, Arizona, who was named All-Premier Region Offensive Player of the Year in high school, represents the future of the program – talented and steadily improving.
Among the newcomers are the former University of Hawai’i player Amirah Ali and the freshman Gabby Dwyer, from Fort Myers, Florida, both ready to make an impact.
All together, they give Tulane a plethora of formidable pairs to build a winning team around.
Behind the pairing, competition for roles is fierce, a key part of building team chemistry. Beach volleyball is as much psychological as it is physical. Heat, wind and, not to mention, the shifting sand, is not for the faint of heart. However, the Green Wave has learned to win ugly when it proves necessary. They’ve forged an identity through the years: poised, gritty and perfectly comfortable when the pressure runs high.
Despite their success, the program is still struggling to gain attention on campus. Football steadily fills Yulman and basketball gets the primetime slots in Devlin, beach volleyball quietly trains along the levee, away from the masses. There are no sold out student sections, marching bands or weekend tailgates. Yet, the program is winning more than most others at Tulane.
Slated to take on multiple tough teams in the first month, the Green Wave will be tested from the start. Coach Z and his team seem to relish the challenge. It’s about time for Tulane students to check out the action down by the levee and discover one of the more exciting teams in sports for the Green Wave.
This season’s question isn’t whether people will notice the beach volleyball team, it’s when.