Ben Prescott, sports editor 

The Berry College volleyball team is excited for the opportunities that the addition of beach volleyball brings for its players and the future. 

Equipped with most of the indoor volleyball roster, Head Coach Caitlyn Moriarty is going into a new sport with experienced winners and a successful coaching career. Despite this, Moriarty says the first few matches will be a humbling experience for the team. 

“Well we know we’re going to be humbled,” Moriarty said. “A lot of our team is new to beach volleyball. They certainly have an incredible foundation of the sport from an indoor court perspective. They’re uber-athletic, so I feel like we are probably going to be a lot better than what people are expecting out of us.” 

In preparation for the season, the coaching staff has been breaking the team into small groups with a focus on teaching the game. When the staff has the whole team together, they work on making good pairings by partnering two players that balance each other out. 

While practicing for the upcoming season, Moriarty has also seen improvements in the team’s indoor game. 

“For our athletes, it provides a lot of cross-over training, which is really awesome to be able to increase their volleyball IQ, [plus] it’s great for fitness and speed,” Moriarty said. “With the very few beach practices we’ve already had so far, I’ve already seen our indoor game improve. We’re reading better in defense, we’re more explosive offensively. We are already a very athletic team; I feel like it’s just going to add a competitive advantage for us.” 

Junior and indoor American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American, Molly Bergin, also spoke on the injury prevention benefits of playing beach volleyball. 

“Playing in the sand just works different muscles and I think it will help us in a lot of injury prevention ways,” Bergin said. “Learning how to land in the sand and move and pivot I think will really help us.” 

Even though Bergin is a physically gifted player, she places more emphasis on how she wants to carry her leadership skills over from the indoor season. 

“ Culturally and emotionally, I think I will be able to bring the joy and the fun to the game,” Bergin said. 

When looking ahead at the season, Moriarty is excited to carry over rivalries from the indoor season, such as the friendly rivalry with Hendrix College, as well as make new ones. The team is also excited for the possibilities to compete for a national championship. Five out of the seven beach volleyball teams around the country are competing for the championship game through a pool play system. With this system, the top two teams will play for the title. 

In beach volleyball, there are five pairs that compete against a team. The pairs play in waves, the first wave being pairs one, three and five. The second wave are pairs two, four and six, if there is a sixth pair. Every seven points, the teams switch sides of the court. The pairs play to two sets of 21, with the goal of winning a best out of three series. 

The Vikings’ first matchup will be on Friday, March 4 at the Spring Hill Beach Invitational in Gulf Shores, Ala. The first wave is set to begin at 10:30 a.m.