Sand Volleyball Added to Pepperdine's Sports Program

 has officially added women's sand volleyball as an intercollegiate sport, Director of Athletics Steve Potts announced Thursday. 

Nina Matthies, entering her 29th season as the school's indoor coach, will also head the Waves' sand program, which will be a spring sport. Whether there is a postseason tournament depends on how many programs field sand volleyball teams. At least 40 are required for there to be an official NCAA championship.

"We are excited to add women's sand volleyball to the Pepperdine athletic program and believe it will prove to be a popular sport for our community," Potts said in a statement that appears on the university's website. "Volleyball has a great tradition here and we are committed to building a championship women's sand volleyball program.

He added, "We are fortunate to have one of the sport's greatest players, Nina Matthies, as our head coach."

In anticipation of the sport becoming sanctioned, Matthies began taking her indoor team to USA Volleyball's Beach Collegiate Challenge three years ago. The Waves won the contest in 2009 and again this past spring.

Matthies retired from beach volleyball in 1992, having won 43 titles. She was also a successful indoor player. Since she became the third coach in program history in 1983, the Waves have made 18 trips to the NCAA Tournament and have 10 West Coast Conference crowns.

Junior Caitlin Racich (Dos Pueblos High School, Santa Barbara) has accepted Pepperdine's first sand volleyball scholarship. She and Kim Hill defeated fellow Waves teammates Stevi Robinson and Emily Cook to win the gold division at the Beach Collegiate Challenge in April.

"I'm passionate about beach volleyball and I've always been a beach girl, so I'm excited about this awesome opportunity," said Racich, who will compete for Team USA at the FIVB Junior Beach Volleyball Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the end of the month. "Beach is two-on-two, so you get a whole different side of the sport. It's like a partnership and the two of you have to have great chemistry." 

Pepperdine also racked up 640 points to claim the aggregate Challenge team championship, followed by USC (620) and Long Beach State (380).

The Beach Collegiate Challenge is one in a series of competitions in California, Florida and Colorado aimed at preparing top collegiate players for NCAA competition and international, including Olympic, matches.

Ali Wood Lamberson, USA Volleyball's director of beach programs, is excited about contributing to the sport's growth.

"The level of competition has grown a ton," she told Patch after this year's Challenge. "We had nine schools represented and these girls are really excited to represent their schools and are working hard."

All the Waves' current indoor women's players are also eligible to play sand volleyball.

"My vision is that eventually we'll have six kids on sand volleyball scholarships, six kids on indoor scholarships and others on indoor scholarships who are hybrids that will play both," Matthies said.

Matthies wants to have 12 players on her roster by the start of the season and said she will hold tryouts in January. The sand volleyball season is expected to last about two months, beginning in March.

Go here to watch an interview with Caitlin Racich, the recipient of Pepperdine's first sand volleyball scholarship.