New Digs For Beach Volleyball Right At Home
March 28, 2017 | Beach Volleyball
SEATTLE – Rush hour traffic has been replaced by a two minute walk for the Husky beach volleyball team, and although they could not replace the gray skies this afternoon, spirits were still high as the Dawgs practiced for the first time on their two new sand courts right in the midst of the UW athletic village. Just a few days away from the season opener, the Huskies went through a few drills before scrimmaging in multiple pairs combinations for a little over two hours total.
Over the first three years of the beach program, Washington has had to commute to most practices, traveling to South Seattle to play in the indoor Sandbox facility, or driving all the way out to Alki Beach in West Seattle or Golden Gardens in Ballard. One sand court on upper campus that was available last year was dug up as part of campus construction projects. But now in year four the Huskies have a new practice home, right off Montlake Ave. adjacent to the north side of the IMA building and just to the west of Husky Ballpark. Washington will still use the more spectator friendly Alki Beach for home matches.
Head Coach Jonathan Winder was thrilled with what the new courts would mean for the student-athlete experience, and praised the support of Athletic Director Jen Cohen, Senior Associate Athletic Director Erin O'Connell, and Associate Athletic Director Chip Lydum.
"It's awesome. Jen and Erin and Chip, they pushed pretty hard to make sure the players in our program got this facility to be able to practice on campus, and it greatly enhances the volleyball experience for the girls," said Winder. "We don't need to drive 20 minutes to practice, we can do it right on campus and right off Lake Washington."
While the Huskies are just getting comfortable in their new digs, the season opener is just a few days away, and many other teams have been playing matches since the start of March, so UW knows it has to make a quick transition.
"We go from zero to sixty in about a minute," says Winder. "Everybody else has been going for a while, and we're just trying to play a little bit of catch-up, but the girls have worked really hard to get in good shape here, get their sand legs, and now we're able to compete at a high level in practice."
While most of the Huskies aren't playing beach year-round like some Pac-12 rivals, UW does have a much more experienced squad this time around, led by its top two teams returning intact in No. 1 pair Tia Scambray and Crissy Jones, and No. 2 pair Cassie Strickland and Courtney Schwan. Those four were all named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team a year ago and looked ready to pick up where they left off.
Additionally, Strickland and senior Melanie Wade have been focusing on beach all year along with beach walk-ons Lindsay Chalmers, a starter as a freshman last year, and new addition Anna Crabtree, a junior who has showed the potential to contribute right away.
"Anna's a great addition to our team. She's a really nice player, and it's a blessing to have a good local player on our team that we didn't kind of expect," says Winder.
Indoor freshmen Shayne McPherson, Cailin Onosko, Avie Niece, and Kara Bajema were also diving around in the sand on Tuesday, and Winder says all have embraced the beach and are learning and willing to make changes.
"Shayne's been great, she grew up playing at Alki Beach and is a longtime beach volleyball player. Cailin, and Avie, and Kara we're asking them to get as good as they can as quick as they can. They've been working hard to absorb the game, and have been watching some of the older girls to learn and pick up some different strategies and movement patterns, so they've been doing a really good job."
The first test for the Huskies will come this Friday and Saturday against Portland down in Vancouver, Wash. at Frenchman's Bar Regional Park. There will be an exhibition match on Friday at 3 p.m., then the first official dual match on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Over the first three years of the beach program, Washington has had to commute to most practices, traveling to South Seattle to play in the indoor Sandbox facility, or driving all the way out to Alki Beach in West Seattle or Golden Gardens in Ballard. One sand court on upper campus that was available last year was dug up as part of campus construction projects. But now in year four the Huskies have a new practice home, right off Montlake Ave. adjacent to the north side of the IMA building and just to the west of Husky Ballpark. Washington will still use the more spectator friendly Alki Beach for home matches.
Head Coach Jonathan Winder was thrilled with what the new courts would mean for the student-athlete experience, and praised the support of Athletic Director Jen Cohen, Senior Associate Athletic Director Erin O'Connell, and Associate Athletic Director Chip Lydum.
"It's awesome. Jen and Erin and Chip, they pushed pretty hard to make sure the players in our program got this facility to be able to practice on campus, and it greatly enhances the volleyball experience for the girls," said Winder. "We don't need to drive 20 minutes to practice, we can do it right on campus and right off Lake Washington."
While the Huskies are just getting comfortable in their new digs, the season opener is just a few days away, and many other teams have been playing matches since the start of March, so UW knows it has to make a quick transition.
"We go from zero to sixty in about a minute," says Winder. "Everybody else has been going for a while, and we're just trying to play a little bit of catch-up, but the girls have worked really hard to get in good shape here, get their sand legs, and now we're able to compete at a high level in practice."
First official practice on the new sand courts! ?? #SandDawgs pic.twitter.com/obWACBvQRt
— UW Beach Volleyball (@UW_BeachVB) March 28, 2017
While most of the Huskies aren't playing beach year-round like some Pac-12 rivals, UW does have a much more experienced squad this time around, led by its top two teams returning intact in No. 1 pair Tia Scambray and Crissy Jones, and No. 2 pair Cassie Strickland and Courtney Schwan. Those four were all named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team a year ago and looked ready to pick up where they left off.
Additionally, Strickland and senior Melanie Wade have been focusing on beach all year along with beach walk-ons Lindsay Chalmers, a starter as a freshman last year, and new addition Anna Crabtree, a junior who has showed the potential to contribute right away.
"Anna's a great addition to our team. She's a really nice player, and it's a blessing to have a good local player on our team that we didn't kind of expect," says Winder.
Indoor freshmen Shayne McPherson, Cailin Onosko, Avie Niece, and Kara Bajema were also diving around in the sand on Tuesday, and Winder says all have embraced the beach and are learning and willing to make changes.
"Shayne's been great, she grew up playing at Alki Beach and is a longtime beach volleyball player. Cailin, and Avie, and Kara we're asking them to get as good as they can as quick as they can. They've been working hard to absorb the game, and have been watching some of the older girls to learn and pick up some different strategies and movement patterns, so they've been doing a really good job."
The first test for the Huskies will come this Friday and Saturday against Portland down in Vancouver, Wash. at Frenchman's Bar Regional Park. There will be an exhibition match on Friday at 3 p.m., then the first official dual match on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
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