CHATTANOOGA --- Regardless of the cold, rainy weather, the newly-established Chattanooga Mocs Beach Volleyball program gets set to hit the sand for its debut this Saturday at the Bears Beach Bash, hosted by Mercer in Macon, Ga.

Chattanooga opens up against UNCW at 9:00 a.m. before taking on Palm Beach Atlantic at 11:00 a.m. and tournament-host Mercer at 3:00 p.m.

With practices hitting full-stride this week, first-year head coach Darin Van Horn and the team is excited to gain valuable experience and start building the program towards long-term success this weekend.

"Our girls are looking forward to live competition against unfamiliar opponents. The excitement of our first dual play is evident in our practices this week," said Van Horn.

"We're eager to compete and gain knowledge from this experience in Macon."

BEARS BEACH BASH
DATE: February 29, 2020
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. – Bear Beach
MATCH TIMES: 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. & 3:00 p.m.
OPPONENTS: UNCW, Palm Beach Atlantic & Mercer
WEATHER: Mostly Sunny, 57 Degrees
LIVE STATS: Live stats will be unavailable. For most up-to-date news and results, please follow @GoMocsBeachVB on Twitter.
 
ROSTER OUTLOOK
The inaugural roster is filled with valuable experience, even if the experience stems from the indoor side of volleyball. The team looks towards a pair of seniors and four juniors for immediate leadership while also expecting contributions from five sophomores and one very-experienced freshman.

The senior duo consists of two indoor middle blockers, All-Southern Conference selection Dani Szczepanski (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Sarah Root (Waterford, Va). The seniors wrapped up their successful indoor careers following the 2019 fall indoor season.

The junior class features All-SoCon indoor honoree Megan Kaufman, primary setter Maddie Halsey, defensive specialist Bailey Bennett and transfer Baylee Young. Young transferred to Chattanooga ahead of the spring semester and is expected to be a key contributor to the beach squad over the next two seasons.

Sophomores Gylian Finch, Brenna Everingham, Maia Rackel, Nan Parrish and Victoria Cerino provide extreme depth and versatility for the inaugural team. The five, second-year indoor players cover both defensive and offensive needs.

Lone freshman Makenzie Jordan isn't your average rookie. Jordan also transferred to Chattanooga ahead of the spring semester after playing in all 30 matches and 107 of 114 total sets for Mississippi State during the indoor fall season. She ranked fourth in digs (261) and third in aces (17) for the Bulldogs indoor team.

NOTES
· Chattanooga makes its debut as an NCAA DI beach volleyball program in this weekend's Bears Beach Bash. Beach Volleyball is one of the fastest growing sports collegiately and is offered at around 70 institutions in 2020.
· Beach volleyball teams compete in a dual format with five sets of doubles players (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). The first team to win three doubles matches earns the team the overall victory.
· Chattanooga will compete as an affiliate member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). 2020 marks the inaugural year of beach volleyball competition in the OVC. The OVC Championships will commence in Martin, Tenn., April 24 and 25.

For the most up-to-date information regarding Chattanooga Beach Volleyball, please follow us on Twitter (@GoMocsBeachVB), Instagram (@GoMocsBeachVB) & Facebook (Chattanooga Athletics Department), or visit GoMocs.com.