UTEP beach volleyball takes first steps this weekend in Tuscon
UTEP's first beach volleyball season will be about learning.
With a new coach in Daniel Foo, who built New Mexico's beach program from the ground up almost a decade ago, and a 14-player roster that includes eight indoor players taking up a second sport and six beach-specific recruits, the Miners will take their first steps this weekend in Tucson.
More:UTEP beach volleyball schedule
Experience in the beach version of the game is slight on the roster — most of the beach recruits are more versed in the indoor version of the game — and presumably with the UTEP fan base, though on the latter front there are no home games this year as the school plans a facility that can host matches.
"Busy!" Foo said of getting a new program off the ground. "Right now it's crazy, it's very exciting and fun to start the program. There's teaching, a lot of learning and growth right now with the girls. Bringing some of these indoor girls to the beach side, it's a brand new sport.
"A lot of people will see it from the outside and think it's the same sport, but it's not. It's two different sports so they are having to learn a lot of new skills and a lot of new strategies. It's a lot of learning right now."
The fact that the roster is essentially completely new to the sport actually helps, Foo said.
"It's hard but it's also not," he said. "They basically are all on the same level and their learning is accelerated by that. They are all open to learning new skills and development.
"I was wondering that when I took the job and was thinking it might be difficult teaching all these players to understand the game and how fast they would learn. But they've done a great job. I feel like their learning has been accelerated because they are all on the same page of learning this new sport."
As to that teaching, Foo said there are several priorities.
"Balancing the court with two players," he said. "Indoor players who play at the net — in beach volleyball you have to learn how to get off the net to defend, something you don't do indoor. The court is smaller — 8 x 8 meters as opposed to indoor which is 9 x 9 — that's a challenge.
"The net is the same height but there's an uneven surface, so learning how to move and how to be more balanced, you can get away with bad technique in indoor and use athletic ability. On sand, if you don't use good technique on your approach you're not going to jump as high because you're on an uneven surface."
How it works
A dual match squad, which is the meat of UTEP's schedule this year, consists of five two-player teams, ranked one through five. Each team plays the correspondingly ranked team from the opponent in a best-of-three-games match, a difference from a six-on-six best-of-five indoor match. The program that wins three of the five matches or more wins the dual match.
Games go to 21 points in the first two sets instead of 25, with a first-to-15 potential third game. Because conditions, including wind and sun, can be dramatically different depending on which way a team faces, the teams switch every seven points in the first two games and every five points in a potential game 3.
While the court is smaller than indoor — each side is 8 meters by 8 meters instead of 9x9 — that's two players covering 64 square meters instead of six covering 81.
From a technical standpoint, double-hits are called more commonly in beach, particularly on serve-receive, where a double hit is not legal under any circumstances.
Five UTEP teams to watch
Katie Martin and Krista Paegle. This is the one UTEP team with extensive beach experience. Martin is a transfer from Boise State's beach team. Paegle comes to UTEP from Riga, Latvia and also has a beach background. They are currently the Miners' No. 1 team.
Paulina Acuna and Aaliyah Austin. The Franklin alum Acuna is the reigning El Paso Times indoor volleyball player of the year. Austin comes from Mesa, Ariz. Both are freshman beach-only recruits.
Serena Patterson and Savannah Marenco. Patterson has a final beach season of eligibility after concluding her indoor career as one of the Miners' all-time greats. Marenco is a Burges alum by way of Odessa College's indoor team recruited as a beach-specific player. She is a sophomore.
Sara Pustahija and Ema Uskokovic. The Serbians were standout hitters on the UTEP indoor team. Pustahija was a four-time C-USA freshman of the week in the fall indoor season. UIskokovic is a sophomore.
Marian Ovalle and Mattie Gantt. Ovalle, a native of Ciudad Juarez, is a transfer from New Mexico Military Institute. Gantt is a freshman from Aledo.
Cactus Classic
All matches in Tucson
11 a.m. Friday at Arizona
4 p.m. Friday vs. Colorado Mesa
10 a.m. Saturday vs. Oregon
1 p.m. Saturday vs. Arizona State
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP beach volleyball team takes first steps this weekend in Tuscon
