A new phenomenon is sweeping across the sands of college volleyball, and Mississippi State is hopping onboard.Over the past two weekends, the Bulldog volleyball squad made two trips to Florida to participate in two beach volleyball tournaments. They mark the first time in school history that MSU has competed as a team in the sand version of the sport.
“As far as Mississippi State volleyball goes,” MSU head coach Tina Seals said, “beach volleyball is a new experience for us this spring. We had a couple of players who played in beach tournaments on their own, but for the team as a whole, it’s a new experience.”
State fared well two weekends ago in its first beach tournament ever, the SEC Coaches’ Beach Volleyball Tournament hosted by Florida.
Last weekend, MSU played in the Siesta Key Tournament, where the Bulldogs saw vast improvement in their level of play in just a week’s time.
David Carstenson, of Seminole, Fla., coordinated both tournaments MSU participated in. Carstenson is currently the outdoor director of grass and sand volleyball for the state of Florida. He works for USA Volleyball, the primary governing body over the sport.
“I will say that Mississippi State showed that it improved a lot over the course of the week,” Carstenson said. “And the kids loved it.”
The beach version of the sport features two players on each side of the net, offering a partnering and trust system hard-court volleyball doesn’t afford.
MSU sent four pairs of players to the tournaments. Rising sophomores Kaitlin Wheatley and Kayla Woodard partnered up and tied for fifth place last weekend in the Silver Bracket with fellow Bulldogs and rising juniors Jennifer Hauskey and Ioana Demian.
Rising junior Dorey Gray paired with graduating senior Eva Kriegel to take top honors at the Siesta Key, earning first place in the Gold Bracket after going 7-1 in pool play.
Redshirt freshman Stefanie Joyner, who has battled a shoulder injury since arriving at MSU, paired with rising senior Cristina Jucan, who has also battled injury during the offseason.
“We were kind of put together because we were the two injured girls on the team,” Joyner said. “We complemented each other well, though, throughout the tournament.”
Carstenson said the tournaments were more than one-time events that will be forgotten in the future.
“We are trying to get it to become an emerging sport,” Carstenson said. “The time is right now. Misty May and Kerri Walsh are on their way to getting another gold medal. The market is good right now for college beach volleyball.”
Seals said she idealizes that beach volleyball would be held in the spring, while hard-court volleyball would still anchor the fall season.
“[Beach volleyball] makes you a complete player,” Seals said. “It helps improve ball control immensely. I wasn’t sure about the whole beach scene at first, but I’m for it now.”
Carstenson said he is extremely pleased with the results the tournaments had and is certain the sport will spread throughout the collegiate country soon.
“The NCAA has taken notice,” Carstenson said. “Schools and conferences are calling asking why they didn’t get invited, and we’re already setting things up for next year.