Bob Jones University Bruins Director of Athletics Dr. Neal Ring announced that the program would be adding women’s beach volleyball to its intercollegiate lineup. The Bruins will play their inaugural season in spring.
“We’re very excited to add beach volleyball to our sport offerings,” Ring said. “College volleyball has expanded from playing indoors on the hardwood to outdoors in the sand. This addition allows us to be on the front edge of an emerging sport while staying aligned with our mission.”
Beach volleyball began in 2016 as an officially recognized NCAA sport. The format of competition is two teams competing against one another through a series of pairings. Each pairing plays a best-of-three format with the winner decided in a best-of-five result. The sport has seen rapid growth over the past five years with nearly 90 programs across the country already competing.
The Bruins will compete against some familiar opponents such as Erskine College, Truett-McConnell University, St. Andrews University and Spartanburg Methodist College. Dr. Vickie Denny will serve as the head coach of the program.
“We already have several players with beach experience so we hope to be competitive right from the start,” Denny said. “Playing beach will only make our indoor players better since you have to play all aspects of the sport and not specialized positions. We can’t wait to get started.”
The addition of beach volleyball helps the Bruins strengthen their female sport offerings as the program continues its pursuit of NCAA Division III affiliation. BJU is a provisional member of NCAA DIII and an NCCAA member. The Bruins feature 13 varsity programs and over 200 student-athletes.
