After a plan was put in place in September of 2016, Abilene Christian’s debut on the beach is finally within striking distance and just about two weeks away.
The 2018 roster features 19 players which will of course work down to be five duos on gameday. Many of the players are dual sport athletes who also play indoors for the program, as 14 of the participants on the 2017 Southland Tournament runner-up make the transition to the sand. They’ll also feature a pair of Big 12 transfers. The number of options will allow head coach Angela Mooney flexibility for who she wants to play each match.
The team will only travel a dozen of those for each of their road events, as they will head to five different tournaments. They don’t have a home venue yet, but as the program grows, they’re hoping to be hosting by 2019.
Currently there are five schools from the Southland Conference with beach teams now that Abilene Christian joins the fold. It’s expected that eight teams from the league will be formed by 2020 though, which would enable the Southland to form an official league with a conference tournament.
Beach volleyball is one of the most rapidly growing sports and is one of the cheapest and quickest in the NCAA. The season will start up for Abilene Christian on February 24 as they take on Benedictine and San Jose State.
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