Women’s volleyball is hitting the sand as Pepperdine adds women’s beach volleyball to its list of NCAA Division I sports. Pepperdine’s Director of Athletics Steve Potts made the announcement this summer, taking the total of sports teams to 15.
The current coach of the women’s volleyball team, Nina Matthies, will also be in charge of the new sport. Matthies, who has a career record of 530-313 (.629) in indoor women’s volleyball, expressed excitement for the upcoming intercollegiate sport.
“I’m ecstatic! Pepperdine is well suited to play sand volleyball,” Matthies said. “It fits in well with what we are already doing with the indoor team, and it fits within the culture of Pepperdine. It’s exciting to be a part of this from the very beginning, and to be involved in the start of the new tradition here at this school.”
Matthies is beginning her 29th year as head coach of Pepperdine’s women’s volleyball. She retired from her career as a beach volleyball player in 1992. Since then she has been inducted to both the Women’s Professional Volleyball Association Hall of Fame and the Manhattan Beach Volleyball Walk of Fame. In her career, Matthies won 43 titles and had a total of 93 podium finishes in a career of 139 sand volleyball appearances.
Pepperdine’s decision to add the new sport was not without planning. Coach Matthies has been preparing for the sport by entering players of the indoor volleyball team in the USA Volleyball Beach Collegiate Championship for the last three years. The Waves won the team title this year and back in 2009.
In terms of players, NCAA rules states that players on an indoor volleyball scholarship may also play beach volleyball. However, players on scholarships for sand volleyball cannot play indoor volleyball as well.
The Waves already have one player on the roster, junior Caitlin Racich, who received a sand volleyball scholarship, therefore forgoing indoor volleyball for the new sport.
As to the remainder of the roster, for the upcoming season Matthies is anticipating holding tryouts in January. Furthermore she is expecting that 12 to 14 of the 18 women’s indoor volleyball team players will also play for the sand volleyball team.
“My vision is that eventually we’ll have six kids on sand volleyball scholarships, six kids on indoor scholarships and others on indoor scholarships who are hybrids that will play both,” Matthies said.
Women’s sand volleyball was added to the list of NCAA women’s sports in Division I schools in January of 2010. The beginning of the sport was pushed back so as to allow different institutions to prepare for the sport. Pepperdine is one of the first schools to announce its decision to participate in the sport. The 2011–2012 school year will mark the first year schools begin competing with a spring 2012 start date.
There is anticipation of the spring sand volleyball season leading up to a championship event. However, NCAA rules state that 40 schools must sponsor the sport for an official NCAA Championship to happen. Other schools are expected to make announcements about sand volleyball soon.
Beach volleyball season will kick off some time in the spring of 2012. A schedule will be released once all teams are known.
