ACU beach volleyball team held their intrasquad Beach Bash Saturday for their first event of the season.
This event was open to the public to get people excited about the beach volleyball program, which resulted in a great turnout.
“I thought the tournament went really well,” said sophomore Claire Dunn, who is on the beach volleyball roster this year. “Everyone competed and played really well especially compared to last year. Some of our girls have never played beach before, and they got two weeks of training, and they did a really good job adapting.”
With the changes made to spring sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ACU decided to opt out this past fall season since most of their players played indoor volleyball earlier this spring.
For the past two weeks, the Wildcats have been practicing and preparing for this competition to finally get back on the courts.
“The two weeks of practices were really nice,” Dunn said. “I personally practiced, but I didn’t get to be in a team setting, so being able to be with everyone was fun, and I was able to be pushed a lot more.”
Although ACU didn’t have a chance at a normal season, these past two weeks and the intrasquad gave them the light they have been waiting for.
Right before the pandemic hit, the beach volleyball team opened their brand new courts where they didn’t get an opportunity to use them. Now, they finally had the opportunity to use those new facilities.
“It’s great that we have so much more flexibility, Dunn said. “We have been able to practice and get extra reps whenever and we didn’t have the chance to do that when we didn’t have our own courts.”
The Wildcats have new, young additions to the team that is eager to play, with 12 players on the roster being underclassmen. All the younger players have left Dunn feeling excited about the upcoming season.
“They are doing great and came in with an open mindset and ready to learn,” said Dunn. “They will try new things even if they weren’t the best at it, which is great.”
These past two weeks leave the Volleyball program excited and eager for the upcoming season and competitions.
