University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia To Take Part In Beach Volleyball Championships
April 10, 2008 | Volleyball
ATHENS, Ga. The Georgia volleyball program will travel Gainesville, Fla., this weekend to take part in the inaugural Southeastern Conference Coaches Beach Volleyball Championships on the University of Florida campus.
The event, set for April 11-12, will mark the first-ever beach volleyball tournament held by a Division I conference. Friday, April 11, will serve as a practice day in the afternoon, and will feature the SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Championships Banquet from 7-9 p.m. ET with volleyball legend Karch “King of the Beach” Kiraly providing the keynote address. Play will start at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at UF’s Southwest Recreation Center with each of the 11 volleyball teams in the SEC sending a total of 40 teams of two to compete at the event.
“Our team has been training hard both on the court and in the sand to prepare for the fall season,” Georgia head volleyball coach Joel McCartney said, “The major focus of this off-season has been ball control and systems defense indoors and learning the two-person beach game outdoors. The eventual transfer from the beach training has already made its way into our improved play indoors.”
Participating schools will be in competition for the Commissioners Cup, which will be awarded to the institution which earns the most points in pool play. In pool play, there will be four different levels of competition in which each school will enter one beach doubles team. The four levels of pool play have been named for former SEC Commissioners Roy Kramer (Level 1), Harvey Schiller (Level 2), Boyd McWhorter (Level 3) and Bernie Moore (Level 4). Each team will earn points for their respective school towards the Commissioners Cup based on its record in its pool. The school with the most points at the end of pool play will be awarded the Cup, which is a diamond-shaped beveled-glass trophy in a black stand. The SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Tournament logo is etched into the glass, and SEC Associate Commissioner Debbie Corum will present the trophy to the winning institution.
All teams participating in the SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Championship are guaranteed a minimum of eight sets, or four matches. Matches in pool play in all divisions will consist of two sets played to 21 points per set with no cap on scoring. Following pool play, all teams will advance to playoffs within their respective levels and will be seeded according to pool play results.
Georgia will send 11 players to Gainesville for the Beach Volleyball Championships. Representing the Bulldogs at Level 1 play will be the duo of Britta Buethe and Erika Clark, both rising sophomores for the 2008 fall season. Last weekend Buethe and Clark won the tournament title at a Georgia State tournament that saw all five of Georgia’s beach teams make the Gold Bracket (top eight teams). Competing this weekend at Level 2 for Georgia will be rising senior Maria Taylor and rising sophomore Valentina Gonzalez, who finished third at Georgia State. Rising sophomore Lindsay Gehan and rising junior Katie Winschel will take part at Level 3, while newcomer Carla Tietz and rising sophomore Kelsey Burkett will play at Level 4. Georgia will also send a fifth team of Simone May, Sam Lum and Anjelica Partridge.
“I am impressed with the development of our team so far and we are all looking forward in taking the team down to Florida for the SEC Beach Championship. This event that will showcase an NCAA emerging sport that has some growing potential among the volleyball community and it will allow our team to compete this spring that otherwise would not be possible,” McCartney said of his squad, which has been without a setter for the entire spring training period.
The keynote speaker at Friday’s banquet, Karch Kiraly, currently works as a color commentator for ESPN and NBC’s volleyball broadcasts. He will be available for a public autograph session from 6-6:30 p.m. the night of the banquet at the host location Best Western Gateway Grande. In 2007, Kiraly retired from the AVP Tour as the winningest player in beach volleyball history, in terms of both tournaments won and prize money earned. Kiraly was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2001 and is the only player to earn Olympic gold medals both indoors and in beach volleyball.
Teams, as well as fans, will be permitted to bring tents, umbrellas, coolers and chairs to the competition on Saturday. Admission is free, and additional information on the tournament can be found at secbeachvolleyball.com.
SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Championships Schedule of Events (All Times Eastern):
Friday, April 11
12-5 p.m.: Team Practices at the SW Recreation Center Beach Courts
Free and Open to the Public
7-9 p.m.: SEC Coaches Volleyball Banquet at the Best Western Gateway Grande
Keynote Speaker: Karch Kiraly
9-10 p.m.: Coaches & Officials Competition Meeting
Saturday, April 12
Competition
8:30 a.m. 3 p.m.: Pool Play
4 p.m.: Bronze Medal Match
6 p.m.: Gold Medal Match
The event, set for April 11-12, will mark the first-ever beach volleyball tournament held by a Division I conference. Friday, April 11, will serve as a practice day in the afternoon, and will feature the SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Championships Banquet from 7-9 p.m. ET with volleyball legend Karch “King of the Beach” Kiraly providing the keynote address. Play will start at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at UF’s Southwest Recreation Center with each of the 11 volleyball teams in the SEC sending a total of 40 teams of two to compete at the event.
“Our team has been training hard both on the court and in the sand to prepare for the fall season,” Georgia head volleyball coach Joel McCartney said, “The major focus of this off-season has been ball control and systems defense indoors and learning the two-person beach game outdoors. The eventual transfer from the beach training has already made its way into our improved play indoors.”
Participating schools will be in competition for the Commissioners Cup, which will be awarded to the institution which earns the most points in pool play. In pool play, there will be four different levels of competition in which each school will enter one beach doubles team. The four levels of pool play have been named for former SEC Commissioners Roy Kramer (Level 1), Harvey Schiller (Level 2), Boyd McWhorter (Level 3) and Bernie Moore (Level 4). Each team will earn points for their respective school towards the Commissioners Cup based on its record in its pool. The school with the most points at the end of pool play will be awarded the Cup, which is a diamond-shaped beveled-glass trophy in a black stand. The SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Tournament logo is etched into the glass, and SEC Associate Commissioner Debbie Corum will present the trophy to the winning institution.
All teams participating in the SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Championship are guaranteed a minimum of eight sets, or four matches. Matches in pool play in all divisions will consist of two sets played to 21 points per set with no cap on scoring. Following pool play, all teams will advance to playoffs within their respective levels and will be seeded according to pool play results.
Georgia will send 11 players to Gainesville for the Beach Volleyball Championships. Representing the Bulldogs at Level 1 play will be the duo of Britta Buethe and Erika Clark, both rising sophomores for the 2008 fall season. Last weekend Buethe and Clark won the tournament title at a Georgia State tournament that saw all five of Georgia’s beach teams make the Gold Bracket (top eight teams). Competing this weekend at Level 2 for Georgia will be rising senior Maria Taylor and rising sophomore Valentina Gonzalez, who finished third at Georgia State. Rising sophomore Lindsay Gehan and rising junior Katie Winschel will take part at Level 3, while newcomer Carla Tietz and rising sophomore Kelsey Burkett will play at Level 4. Georgia will also send a fifth team of Simone May, Sam Lum and Anjelica Partridge.
“I am impressed with the development of our team so far and we are all looking forward in taking the team down to Florida for the SEC Beach Championship. This event that will showcase an NCAA emerging sport that has some growing potential among the volleyball community and it will allow our team to compete this spring that otherwise would not be possible,” McCartney said of his squad, which has been without a setter for the entire spring training period.
The keynote speaker at Friday’s banquet, Karch Kiraly, currently works as a color commentator for ESPN and NBC’s volleyball broadcasts. He will be available for a public autograph session from 6-6:30 p.m. the night of the banquet at the host location Best Western Gateway Grande. In 2007, Kiraly retired from the AVP Tour as the winningest player in beach volleyball history, in terms of both tournaments won and prize money earned. Kiraly was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2001 and is the only player to earn Olympic gold medals both indoors and in beach volleyball.
Teams, as well as fans, will be permitted to bring tents, umbrellas, coolers and chairs to the competition on Saturday. Admission is free, and additional information on the tournament can be found at secbeachvolleyball.com.
SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Championships Schedule of Events (All Times Eastern):
Friday, April 11
12-5 p.m.: Team Practices at the SW Recreation Center Beach Courts
Free and Open to the Public
7-9 p.m.: SEC Coaches Volleyball Banquet at the Best Western Gateway Grande
Keynote Speaker: Karch Kiraly
9-10 p.m.: Coaches & Officials Competition Meeting
Saturday, April 12
Competition
8:30 a.m. 3 p.m.: Pool Play
4 p.m.: Bronze Medal Match
6 p.m.: Gold Medal Match
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