Huntingdon to begin competing in beach volleyball in 2017

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Huntingdon College President J. Cameron West and Athletic Director Mike Turk officially announced the addition of a new varsity women's sport on Tuesday.

Huntingdon will begin competition in sand volleyball during the spring of 2017. With the addition of the sport, Huntingdon will offer 16 varsity sports.

"Huntingdon College has had tremendous success in recruiting exceptional students to our campus to compete in intercollegiate athletics," stated President West. "The addition of sand volleyball is another step forward in our ability to deliver a unique and distinctive higher education experience for even more students."

During the 2016 season three teams in the state of Alabama (UAB and Jacksonville State University in Division I and Spring Hill in Division II) competed in sand volleyball.

"The sport is fairly new to the NCAA scene, especially at the Division III level, and we are excited to be on the front end of that," Turk said. "The sport has grown rapidly at the club level, and our proximity to the coast offers the opportunity to recruit students who wish to compete in both indoor and sand volleyball. We believe that the addition of the sand program will complement and enhance our indoor program."

Huntingdon head volleyball coach Latonia Brady agreed, adding that the majority of her incoming freshman class plays both sports.

"Of the 17 girls in our incoming class, almost all of them play sand volleyball too," Brady said. "Indoor volleyball and sand volleyball are two different sports, but they complement each other. Sand volleyball helps increase agility, strength, discipline and overall athleticism.

"With the opportunity to play indoor volleyball and sand volleyball and still be able to focus on their academics, I feel like we're offering something really good for student-athletes."

According to a report by the NCAA in the fall of 2015, sand volleyball is the fastest growing NCAA sport. In 2009, Division I and Division II named sand volleyball an emerging sport. The NCAA held its first Division I national championship in Gulf Shores, Ala., earlier this month.

"We went to Gulf Shores just to get our name out and people were flocking to us," Brady said. "Everyone is so excited Huntingdon is starting the program. It gives these players another option. Anytime someone adds a program, I think people are really excited."

Sand volleyball has been approved as a championship sport for Division II and Division III as well. However, according to the NCAA, participation at the Division II and Division III levels has not yet met the minimum number of schools to achieve championship-sport status.

A total of 50 Division I teams competed during the 2016 season. Seven teams competed at the Division II level and Principia College and Stevenson University competed at the Division III level. Those numbers are anticipated to grow rapidly in the near future.

"Congrats to Huntingdon College for taking the lead in adding a beach volleyball team," American Volleyball Coaches Association Executive Director Kathy DeBoer said. "As the third varsity program in Division III and the first (Division III program) in the Southeast, Huntingdon College is surrounded by other varsity programs and can set itself apart as a D-III destination for beach student-athletes."