A Sandy Dream Come True

Becky Murdy
Assistant, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: becky.murdy@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 30, 2011) – For most people, the beach volleyball season lasts a few months at best. However, for U.S. junior player Caitlin Racich, it now lasts 365 days a year.

Racich, a 20-year-old junior at Pepperdine University, has become its first athlete to obtain a scholarship for women’s sand volleyball, which the school recently instated as its 16th varsity sport.

“I was actually quite surprised to hear that universities were adding sand as a sport,” Racich said. “I had been hearing rumors that beach was going to become an official NCAA sport for so many years; and then to finally hear that my school was adding it was the greatest news.”

In April of 2009 the NCAA approved “sand” volleyball as a Division I (previously approved at the Division II level) emerging sport for women, paving the way for varsity competition in the 2010-11 season. The sport has been sanctioned, but will remain without its own NCAA championship until the minimum 40 schools jump on board.

“I have enjoyed playing both indoor and beach my whole life, but I have always wanted to continue playing and competing on the beach after college,” Racich said. ”The fact that I am able to compete and represent Pepperdine on the sand is a dream come true.”

Copyrighted by USAV/B.J. Evans Caitlin Racich serves at the Manhattan Beach Open. The Santa Barbara native started at outside hitter her freshman and sophomore years for the Waves, but will now hang up her sneakers for the feeling of sand between her toes year round.

“I am very happy with my decision to switch because it has allowed me to train hard this summer with USA, play in Canada, focus solely on beach and work toward my future goals.”

Racich will team up with Sarah Hughes (Costa Mesa, Calif.) as the U.S. Junior Beach Volleyball Women’s second team at the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch Junior (under-21) World Championships Aug. 31-Sept. 4 in Halifax, Canada.

Racich and Hughes will join USA-1 team Tara Roenicke (Alta Loma, Calif.) and Rebecca Strehlow (Long Beach, Calif.), USA-1 men’s team Parker Kalmbach (Coto De Caza, Calif.) and Vaun Lennon (Westchester, Calif.) and men’s USA-2 team Ian Satterfield (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Chris Austin (Henderson, Nev.).

“This summer I have been training and practicing hard with USA Volleyball for the U21 World Championships,” Racich noted. “I am looking forward to continuing to train hard this fall and preparing for my premier beach volleyball college season in the spring.”

Adding sand volleyball was a perfect choice for Malibu-based Pepperdine University; a move that it had been preparing for, for years. Women’s Indoor Head Coach Nina Matthies, who just entered her 30th season with the Waves, has registered her team in the past three USA Volleyball Beach Collegiate Challenges, winning the title in 2009 and 2011.

The 2011 championship team was led by Racich and partner Kim Hill (Portland, Ore.), who won the gold division title, giving Pepperdine the point advantage over second-place University of Southern California.

While continuing to coach the indoor team, Matthies will also be the head coach for Pepperdine’s sand volleyball team, with some of her indoor players competing on both. Racich has decided to forgo her collegiate indoor career to focus entirely on her sand skills.

“Indoor season was in the fall then we would train for both indoor and beach in the spring,” Racich said. “I always looked forward to training on the beach in the spring for tournaments and now being able to train all year round… that is just awesome.”

Racich has competed in countless tournaments in addition to making the 2008 and 2009 USA Beach Volleyball Youth National Teams and now the junior team.

"Training with USA this summer has definitely improved my game,” Racich said. “I have learned a lot from the great coaching staff and have enjoyed playing at such a high level. USA volleyball provides great opportunities for players like training with the team at the Olympic Training Center, playing in tournaments, and competing abroad which all have been amazing experiences. This summer has been great!"

Racich’s love for volleyball began in fifth grade and has only grown from there.

“I have always been a beach girl at heart,” Racich said. “My summers consisted of cruising down to East Beach in Santa Barbara, loading up on sunscreen and PowerBars, playing at the beach all day and then heading home at sunset.”

Racich has been surrounded by outdoor activity since she can remember and has a long bloodline of athletes and adventure enthusiasts. As one of five children to parents Randy and Linda Racich, Racich’s family outings were frequent and exciting. Racich has two brothers, Chase and Cole, and twin sisters, Tristan and Taylor.

“I come from a very athletic family,” Racich said. “You can usually find us at the beaches in Santa Barbara or out at the Channel Islands surfing, stand-up paddle boarding, hiking, swimming and just enjoying the outdoors.”

Racich’s grandfather played football at the University of Colorado, while her uncle Dave played Rugby at the University of California and her aunt Kristine was an all-American lacrosse player at UC Davis.

Racich’s older brother Chase plays water polo at UC Santa Barbara and her twin sisters Taylor and Tristan are focused on playing college volleyball when their time comes.

“My parents have led active lifestyles and my 2-year-old brother (Cole) has already taken off the training wheels of his bike,” she said.

With the implementation of sand volleyball as an NCAA Division I sport comes the hope that its popularity will grow and its boundaries will spread to include a championship and increased competition.

“I have always had big beach volleyball dreams since I started playing back in fifth grade,” Racich added. “I have goals of playing on a professional beach tour, playing overseas and representing the USA. I want to continue in beach after college and work towards the Olympics someday.”

With the addition of sand volleyball as an NCAA sanctioned sport, players like Racich have a chance to excel far beyond what they thought possible.

“I am so excited to see sand volleyball take off this year and continue to grow,” Racich said. “I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to play collegiate sand volleyball and be a part of this new sport. I am so thankful to everyone that helped make NCAA beach a reality. Beach volleyball is a great way of life and I’m so glad to be a part of it.”

To keep track of Racich and the other U.S. junior beach teams in Canada at the FIVB Junior World Championships, click here.

Tags: 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Junior World Championships, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Caitlin Racich, mobile, U.S. Beach Junior National Team