Sierra College Beach Volleyball – the two-time defending Big 8 Conference champions and two-time defending Big 8 pairs champions – gear up for their first season of the decade with a few key sophomores and more than a few fresh faces. The three sophomores from last years team look to develop as leaders and mentors on the court, while the freshman bring a variety of talent and backgrounds to the Wolverine squad.
Sophomores Ashley Almond, Kristina Bueno and Cloe Gunter return from last year's team, bringing their experience from the 2019 beach season as well as two years of experience from Sierra's indoor program. These three sophomores have the unique experience in community college athletics of being part of three Big 8 titles, (2018 and 19 indoor, and 2019 beach) and are looking to end their Sierra College careers with a fourth.
Freshman will be the defining element of this young squad, with 13 new faces on the roster, including 7 from the 2019 Big 8 champions indoor volleyball team (Bella Burgard, Abby Huskey, Alyssa Lovell, Rebekah McGill, Hannah Platt, Kaleya Sanchez and Abby Schimmel) and 6 players joining for the 2020 beach season (Charlotte Cannizarro, Aileen Makovey, Tiana Heffernan, Roujan Mohammadian, Grace Sanders, and Leah Vysotsky).
The team, while deep, is still finding it's voice as they head to their first matches of the year. Head Coach Alanna Whitnack is excited to see how the team progresses through the season, but talked about the big learning curve many of her players are experiencing transitioning from indoor to beach. "We have a few sophomores who can anchor some of our pairs. We're a young team with a lot of talent, but not a whole lot of beach experience" says Whitnack. "Our freshman can really make an impact, but we're still working on the transition from indoor to beach, both physically and mentally".
Sierra competes in the Big 8 conference, who last year sent three pairs to the elite eight, and 6 to the sweet sixteen. The conference has been represented in the beach volleyball state championships every year since the conference began sponsoring the sport, and represents an incredibly pairs rich environment. Sierra beach volleyball is the two-time defending Big 8 champion and the two-time defending pairs champion (2018 and 2019)
Because beach volleyball is offered by fewer schools, the Big 8 field looks slightly different for the sport. Teams that compete in Big 8 beach volleyball are Sierra, San Joaquin Delta, Marin, Feather River and Redwoods.
As the 2020 season kicks off, the Wolverines will potentially see some shifting around throughout the lineup, specifically in the 4's-8's pairs as teams get more experience and pairs and players compete for a starting spot. Sierra's first home match is against Gavilan and Fresno City on Friday, March 6, 2020.
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