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As winter gradually gives way to spring and the temperatures gradually start picking up, the USF beach volleyball team will be eager to get some work in under the sun. The Dons open the 2017 beach season on Saturday when they travel to Santa Cruz for a 10 a.m. contest against San Jose State and Feather River College.
This will be the first beach season for first-year co-head coaches
Vicki Brown and
Simone Ortega. The squad takes on the same new look that characterized the indoor season in the fall, featuring a roster returning senior
Emily Reed and sophomore
Dane Miller as the lone holdovers from last year's beach season.
The fresh start will offer Brown a chance to continue the growth she saw back in the fall.
"The team definitely came back rejuvenated and with a new found purpose," Brown said. "They are truly looking at the beach season as a start to a new year. I feel like the lessons we learned in the fall stuck with us. Now the team is looking to take on the next challenge."
Altogether, USF's pairings should offer a balanced blend of attacking and defensive prowess, but most importantly will give the Dons plenty of opportunities to gain valuable experience playing against some of the top beach squads in the nation.
Their schedule will have them play 16 matches leading into the West Coast Conference Championships, which are slated for Apr. 21 and 22 at Santa Monica's Ocean Park Beach. The Dons will host the USF Invitational at San Francisco's Ocean Beach on Mar. 12 featuring Utah and Pacific, as well as another invitational in Santa Cruz where the Dons will matchup with preseason-No. 1 USC and Saint Mary's.
Other highlights to this year's schedule include a matchup with preseason-No. 3 UCLA on Mar. 17 at the Monterey Invitational, and preseason-No. 13 Stanford on Apr. 7 in Palo Alto. Altogether, Brown's squad will have the opportunity to test their mettle against seven opponents either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA preseason poll.
"My overall expectation is to continue to grow through adversity," Brown added. "We definitely have tournaments that will push us. Through the intense preseason weather we experienced in January, 28 mph wind and heavy rain, the team has already experienced moments when they could have easily backed out but they didn't. Instead they made major strides."
Even though the Dons were picked to finish seventh in the WCC this year, Brown makes her focus about helping her team learn and hone the skills that beach play develops.
"We are looking to advance our measurement of hard work and competitive stamina," Brown said. "Beach is about learning how to win ugly. Ugly meaning competing with your partner on every touch you make on the ball and playing through adversity. We are getting better every day with competing in that mindset.
"The two biggest skills the players will gain from sand that translate well into indoor is reading defense and attacking variation. The more attacking options you have the better attacker you will be. You need to have a variety of shots to score efficiently in beach. For defense, beach forces you to do that work with your eyes because if you release too early you will get burned."
As the season opens, the Dons enter with optimism and the mindset that each match will bring them closer to their goals of being a top contender in the WCC beach scene moving forward.
"The players have maintained their focus and have been learning more about the game each drill," Brown said. "With this progression our fans will share some great moments with us."
