MONROE, La. – With the Tiger Beach Challenge coming up this weekend, the time has come for a preview of this year's ULM beach volleyball program as head coach Patrick Hiltz discussed topics regarding scheduling, the final roster and the first-ever NCAA championship site.
Scheduling
The Warhawks are slated to face six DIG Magazine top-25 opponents including No. 1 Southern California, No. 5 Florida International, No. 8 Georgia State, No. 10 Stetson, No. 17 South Carolina and No. 19 LSU. ULM also faces Florida Atlantic, North Florida and TCU who are all receiving votes in the same poll.
“The hope with the schedule is that when it comes time to decide who's going to be in the National Championships we are in consideration,” ULM head beach volleyball coach Patrick Hiltz said. “Because we have, I believe, one of the hardest strength of schedules in the country. The flip side is that the girls have said they want to be known as being a team that is fearless. If you are fearless, you will take on anybody.”
The Maroon and Gold face FIU, GSU, LSU and Stetson this weekend in Baton Rouge.
Final Roster
The 2016 beach volleyball roster consists of six returners and seven newcomers, eight of 13 student-athletes are crossovers from the indoor surface.
Junior Kaitlyn Shearer posted a team-best 18-2 record last season while sophomores Claire Crossfield (13-8) and Bayleigh Hoffman (11-8) and juniors Hope Pawlik (15-6), Hadley Swartz (13-8) and Taylor Zaeske (15-5) also posted winning records.
Shearer and Zaeske combined to go 12-2 last season, posting a 2-0 record at the four-slot and 10-2 record at the fives. The pairing of Crossfield and Shearer won all six games at the fives. Pawlik and Swartz also have experience together, winning both games they played at the threes.
The Warhawks will also have the option to field freshmen Catherine Griffith, Tara Jenkins and Bailey Smith and juniors Rebecca Brown, Delaney Driver, Jennifer McClendon and Kori Simpson to help fill out the rotation. ULM must field five pairs in each duel with a sixth pair counting as an exhibition match. The Maroon and Gold must win three of the five paired matches to win a duel.
“All of the returners have really set the tone for just how hard they want to work,” Hiltz said. “They want to get better, and they want to be one of the best teams in the country. We have a lot of new beach players that have been working since the fall and have made tremendous strides in how much better they've gotten. I could not be happier with the level of improvement we've seen.”
NCAA Beach Championships
This is the first year beach volleyball will be an NCAA-sanctioned sport. It was announced on Oct. 9 that this year's championship site would be hosted by the city of Gulf Shores, Ala., and Orange Beach Sports Commission at the Gulf Shores Public Beach. University of Alabama at Birmingham will serve as the host institution. This will hold true for 2017 as well.
“I think Gulf Shores is a great spot,” Hiltz said. “I don't think they could have picked a better spot. They do it right. That community supports beach volleyball really well. I think it's as neutral a spot as we could have gotten.”
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