I just got back from the SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Championships held this past Saturday in Gainesville, Florida. I admit I much prefer the indoor game, but I do enjoy the beach version when there is no other volleyball during the spring and summer months. And there was no way I could miss the first ever beach volleyball tournament held by a Division I conference! Despite things running long and the relentless heat (and my worsening sunburn!) it turned out to be a great event. It seemed like everyone, the fans, the players, and even the coaches were having a lot of fun. My pictures from the event are online here.

Tennessee sent four teams to the event and unfortunately none did too well in pool play (where each team played four matches consisting of two sets to 21 points):

Nikki Fowler/Kylie Marshall (0-3-1)
Chloe Goldman/Leah Hinkey (0-2-2)
Milan Clarke/Laurén LaFlamme (0-2-2)
Carol Cheade/Mindy Flynn/Yuliya Stoyanova (0-3-1)

However, things went better during the playoffs (where each team played one set to 21). Cheade/Flynn/Stoyanova lost in the first round of the all-terrain level playoffs to Mississippi State and Fowler/Marshall lost in the second round of the gold level playoffs to eventual winner Georgia. But in the bronze level playoffs both Tennessee teams made it to the finals. Clarke/LaFlamme defeated Goldman/Hinkey to win 21-12. Congratulations to all four!

Much more coverage is available from Tennessee and host Florida - both with comments from head coach Rob Patrick - as well as the official site of the tournament.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 3:49 pm.