Ever since beach volleyball became an NCAA emerging sport, UNC-Wilmington’s women’s volleyball head coach Amy Bambenek has voiced her support for the sport, making its way to Director of Athletics Jimmy Bass. After much time and consideration, UNCW became the first NCAA Division I institution in the state of North Carolina to add beach volleyball to its sports portfolio.

“With the recent success of the sport in the Olympics and knowing the strong community support for the sport in Wilmington, it became a continued conversation over several years between myself and Mr. Bass,” said Bambenek. “I viewed it as an immediate way to enhance our indoor program and as a perfect fit for UNCW.”

The sport will make its debut in 2015-2016 where the competitive season will begin the first weekend in March and extend through the month of April, with early May being the NCAA tournament for the sport. With roughly 60 Division I teams that now sponsor beach volleyball, UNCW is anticipating a challenging but strong season.

“We want to be competitive in our first year, but realistically it will be a huge learning year for our players and staff,” said Bambenek. “Our biggest challenge will be competing against teams that have had beach volleyball for 3-4 years. Those players will likely be more adapted to the sand and have more knowledge of strategies.”

The majority of the roster will consist of recruited positions as well as a few players from the indoor volleyball team. The staff is recruiting players at high school or club tournaments as well as beach tournaments. The sport also offers a fifth year of beach-only volleyball eligibility for athletes that have played four years of indoor volleyball.

The team will compete against schools mainly in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. While many players enjoy both indoor volleyball and beach volleyball, there is a drastic difference between the two.

 “In my opinion [beach volleyball] is a lot harder, and I think that’s because it’s a completely different sport in every aspect,” said graduate student and player Bethany Geselle. “There are different rules from what you are allowed to and not allowed to do with your hands, the ball weighs differently, the court is a different size, and the net is different. Mentally it’s the same.”

Beach volleyball also introduces a whole new meaning to the word conditioning.

“In terms of preparing for beach volleyball, there are a lot more conditioning, strength, and mental ability required,” said freshman Alex Marstall. “You have to be more aggressive and you have more responsibility because it’s just you and your partner.”

Players, coaches, and staff are not only looking forward to competing but also making this first year of beach volleyball the best it can possibly be.

“I am looking forward to getting into competition, seeing what other schools have to offer and to see how much it [the program] can grow in the next few years,” said freshman Anna Grauel.