NET ENGAGEMENT
Mariah Alvidrez of Cal State Bakersfield (left) refused to knuckle under against a big block from Pep- perdine’s Delaney Knudsen in Chula Vista. Above, Pepperdine’s Kelley Larsen was a 2014 AVCA Sand Volleyball All-American First-Team selection and has the Waves thinking about a third national title in four seasons.
Photos by Peter Brouillet
Sand Volleyball National Championship since the first year in 2012.
Many athletes who have competed on
USAV’s Junior Beach Tour and as part of its Beach High Performance program have gone on to compete for college sand teams. USAV CEO Doug Beal remains bullish on the rise of the sand game at the collegiate and club ranks. “Sand or beach volleyball has been one of the most popular events at the Olympic Games since its introduction in 1996 and we are sure that it will experi- ence similar popularity and growth across the collegiate landscape very quickly,” Beal says. “We have seen a dramatic rise in our programming and participation at both the club, youth and junior level over the past few years, with participation more than doubling
in just a few short years. More and more of the USAV regions are creating and support- ing beach activities and more and more junior clubs are adding a beach alternative.” Sand volleyball is the fastest-growing
NCAA sport with more than 50 schools sponsoring it as of March 2015. NCAA rules require 40 sponsoring institutions to request an NCAA championship. The NCAA hopes to identify host sites for this new championship by fall 2015. It is anticipated that the championship will occur in early May each year. This will be the final year of the AVCA Collegiate Sand National Championships, which is slated for Gulf Shores, Ala., on May 1-3.
The championship will have an eight- team bracket that will be played in a double-
elimination format. Teams will consist of five pairs of play-
ers. The first team to win three of the five matches is the winner. However, unlike tennis, in which national individual champi- ons are crowned in singles and doubles, the NCAA does not plan to name individual or pair champions in sand volleyball. “This is incredible news for the devel- opment of young female beach players! I believe this is an important step to help develop future success for the USA on the international and Olympic stage,” said Lau- ren Fendrick, who plays with Brooke Sweat and is one of the top U.S. teams on the FIVB World Tour. “I wish this was approved when I was in college. I would’ve loved to have played beach.”
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