Texas burned in its first style of the NCAA seaside competitors, however it’s prepared to leap proper into the hearth.
The Longhorns made an eye-opening entry into sandplay throughout their keep in Hawaii, going 0-5 within the Queens Cup over the weekend and swept away by Rainbow Wahines in a duel on Tuesday.
Their workforce gained 3-27 over 5 flights in six duos, together with a 3-2 loss to Nebraska, wins over Keonilei Akana-Devin Kahahawai on 2nd Court docket and Jordyn Byrd-Jenna Wenaas on fifth. and Kahahawai additionally gained their #2 recreation in opposition to Washington.
Longhorns’ inexperienced seaside gamers, No. As one among 5 groups at an occasion hosted by 13 Lengthy Seaside States, Friday and Saturday will obtain extra of the game’s greatest exhibits. Others No. 16 Stetson, CSUN and Utah.
Texas is the NCAA’s defending ladies’s indoor volleyball champion and has loved constant excellence on the exhausting court docket, with 4 AIAW or NCAA titles and a file eight or higher advances to the NCAA spherical 16 instances over the previous 17 seasons.
Olympian and longtime Texas assistant head coach Erik Sullivan can also be the coach of the Longhorns’ beginning seaside program. He acknowledged that the failure to win was a tradition shock for gamers accustomed to success on the elite stage.
“I like the way in which our women approached the topic,” Sullivan advised VolleyballMag.com from the airport in Hawaii because the workforce awaited their flight again to the mainland. “I like the way in which they compete and the way in which they cope with the frustration of shedding as a result of a lot of the women on our present have not misplaced a lot of their careers.
“After we got here in, we knew we had been prone to cope. [with adversity]we tried to tamper [the players’] Expectations are just a little low. Inform them that we all know there might be some disappointments right here and that you’re aggressive, however that is simply a part of the method, so attempt to not get too pissed off with this a part of it.”
Sullivan is assured his Longhorns ought to be extra cohesive on the upcoming occasion in Lengthy Seaside, as soon as he will get a greater really feel for seaside {couples}.
“By design, we play all people on the roster, not simply 10 women,” he says, so consistency was understandably a problem in these early video games.
“As our follow progressed, we noticed our women change into extra snug, after which we noticed day-to-day enchancment in Hawaii,” Sullivan stated. “We now have some youngsters with good seaside expertise, some with some, and a few with none in any respect. The ladies embraced the method of coaching for a couple of extra hours, being within the sand, taking part in in a special surroundings. It has been enjoyable for them. They had fun regardless of being totally different and new.”
Akana and Kahahawai recorded milestones of profitable the present’s first set and profitable their first recreation, and went as much as #1 within the duel in opposition to Hawaii.
“Keonilei and Devin might be within the higher half of our flights [this weekend,” Sullivan said. “There are some rules that we have to follow that are challenging because we are trying to move players around and change things up. The rules aren’t particularly designed for that. In our situation, we want to play all of our kids, change the lineup, switch teams, move players in and out, so we can find out what works best for us.”
Under collegiate beach rules, no team can move up or down more than one flight from match to match, a safeguard against “cramming.”
“The rules make sense for everybody that’s doing this in the model where there are separate [volleyball’ programs,” Sullivan acknowledged, “but for us, when we just want to play everybody, it becomes a little more of a challenge.”
Neophyte program or not, the name on the front of the jersey still reads “Texas,” so Sullivan understands that losing won’t be accepted for long.
“We are moving toward separate [indoor and beach] applications,” he stated. “So in a couple of years the seaside will change into its personal autonomous program with out a lot crossover between indoor and outside groups. With the way in which issues are inbuilt seaside volleyball, we see a possibility to get fairly good fairly rapidly.
TCU #1 performs USC #2, weekend preview
TCU, profiled at size in our first installment final week, hasn’t been a foul omen with our protection.
The highest-ranked workforce in faculty ball took care of the unfinished enterprise in opposition to the undefeated and 4th-placed LSU nationally, shedding simply one among its 10 residence matches in opposition to the Tigers in back-to-back days in a recreation with the Horns final weekend. He consolidates his maintain on the Frog Problem and the #1 spot.
TCU’s award-winning #1 pair of Spanish nationals Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno (11-0 in season) have moved as much as the highest spot. CollegeBeachVB.com’s ranking After two consecutive wins in opposition to Ellie Shank of the Tigers and Kylie Deberg, who was number one however was eradicated from the highest 5. Alvarez-Moreno beat Shank-Deberg 88-72 in 4 units.
Horned Frogs coach Hector Gutierrez advised VolleyballMag.com that though Alvarez (a veteran) and Moreno (a junior) have budding futures as a workforce representing Spain in skilled worldwide competitions, they plan to return to TCU subsequent season. Alvarez would proceed to qualify within the yr of COVID.
One of many enjoyable facets of faculty sandbox play is that apparently the perfect groups have little worry of planning one another, and that is the case this weekend. Miami Seaside may have larger volleyball occasions than simply AVP when TCU (12-0) performs within the high-powered Surf & Turf Invitational hosted by FIU #14 on Fridays and Saturdays. Additionally competing are the undefeated #2 USC and #15 FAU, and sure, TCU will play all three of those ranked rosters.
It might usually be the spotlight of the 2 greatest {couples} within the nation when Alvarez and Moreno performed 9-0 with USC’s Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple and had been ranked fifth by CollegeBeachVB.com. However Kraft is in La Paz, Mexico with Emily Stockman for the Volleyball World Competitors.
In the meantime, a gaggle of ranked groups will meet in Gulf Shores, Alabama, the place the NCAA Championship is held Friday by Sunday for the March-Might occasion hosted by the UAB. Groups competing embrace #3 UCLA, #4 Florida State, #5 and undefeated Loyola Marymount, #6 LSU, #10 Georgia State, #19 Tulane, and #20 South Carolina.
Inexperienced Wave’s Emily Heintzelman and Samantha Mehlman had been honored by AVCA/CollegebeachVB.com as Nationwide Couple of the Week and US Convention Couple of the Week. UCLA’s #1 couple Lexy Denaburg and Maggie Boyd had been ranked #2 nationally by CollegebeachVB.com and had been Pac-12’s Couple of the Week.
Additionally, No.7 Grand Canyon will host a contest in Phoenix that includes No.18 Pepperdine and Arizona State.
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