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Break out the sandals and the folding chairs…

Beach volleyball is coming to UC Davis this spring — and while the women's competition is as serious as any other sport in the Aggie playbook, this latest athletic endeavor is assuredly going to have a different feel from your typical collegiate event.

"If you look where it's gone on the Olympic level since joining The Games in 1996 … it became a sport that people really felt they could do," says fifth-year Aggie volleyball coach Dan Conners.

Huge crowds and a party atmosphere — especially when American three-time Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and teammate Kerri Walsh Jennings were doing their thing — brought beach volleyball into the college psyche.

Today, more than 70 universities stick their toes in the sand. Beginning March 9, when UC Davis opens at Stanford, the Aggies will become the seventh member of the Big West Conference.

"Given our geographic footprint, the conference has been a leader in the growth of collegiate beach volleyball," says BWC Commissioner Dennis Farrell. "The addition of a team at UC Davis is a natural fit."

Conners — and new Aggie beach coach Ali Daley McColloch — agree.

Conners understands the perspective of fans who view beach volleyball as one big party: "That may come from the fact you're on a beach and there's a little looser environment than being in the confines of indoors.

"But if you're talking specifically to the beach athletes, they're very serious about their sport."

Adds McColloch…

"I want it to be a competitive kind of environment, but at the same time I want it to be a place where families can come. We'll have berms around the court … it'll be a great place to enjoy a game outside, very entertaining because the players are pretty animated when they play.

McColloch and Conners says UC Davis will create a family-friendly vibe.

"It's like watching a football game in some kinds of ways," adds McColloch, 31. "It can be that intense sometimes, especially towards the end of the matches."

McColloch, a native of Grass Valley, remains an Association of Volleyball Professionals competitor and comes to Davis after a distinguished college career at Long Beach State and UCLA.

An acquaintance of Conners' when he was a Bruin assistant, McColloch is a perfect fit as the first UC Davis beach volleyball coach. She and her husband Kevin also own the Temecula Viper Beach Volleyball program.

"We are thrilled to bring Ali in," Conners says. "She has the coaching experience and depth of knowledge of the beach volleyball world to enhance our ability to compete in the Big West.

"Ali fits well into the UC Davis athletics culture that values growth of our student-athletes not only through athletics but also prioritizes their growth academically and personally. She stands to serve as a valuable mentor to the young women in our program."

So how does beach volleyball work?

In head-to-head play, schools offer five tandem teams. The women play best-of-three series with the first sets going to 21 and, if necessary, the third playing out to 15. Duos must win by two points. All the same as indoors.

The differences?

Fresh air and sunshine, music, perhaps concessions and Aggie wear sales.

Oh, and the style of play…

McColloch says her women will be flying around the pit, a court that is a little smaller than indoor, but only two people — not six like indoor volleyball — will be charged with patrolling the territory.

"What I typically look for are quick-twitch players; their speed, whether or not they are able to move efficiently in the sand," says McColloch, who is fresh off a ninth-place finish at an AVP tournament in Hermosa Beach. "Sometimes you have big players indoors that can do really, really well because they're big."

But those are players who might need two sets to get into kill position.

"Whereas on the beach, there are only two players and as a blocker or defender, you have to move a lot — and in sand — to get in position," McColloch points out.

Exactly what kind of atmosphere is headed to UC Davis remains a work in progress.

Could it be serious competition surrounded by a Jimmy Buffet concert?

What is known is that four beach volleyball courts will be constructed just west of Toomey Field off Russell Boulevard. Will there be stands, munchies, giveaways, music, or beer?

"All of that is still to be determined," Aggie Director of Athletics Kevin Blue reports. "We are working through the granularities of the construction. There will be more to come as that clarifies, but the planning stages of the project are underway."

Blue says an alum (who wishes to remain anonymous) has provided "a significant gift to cover a very significant part of the capital costs."

Beach volleyball was added to the Aggie sports stable earlier in the year (along with equestrian) in keeping with Title IX requirements as UC Davis female enrollment continues to grow.

At this point, says Conners, as many as 14 of the current indoor student-athletics will gravitate to beach volleyball this first season. But McColloch will be hard at work finding those quick-twitchers who will help UC Davis compete at the highest level.

If McColloch or Conners recruit players who cross-pollinate the volleyball program, so be it. But the coaches aren't necessarily keeping each other in mind when seeking talent.

"We just started to figure this out," says Conners. "We know we have to communicate well. The conversation will evolve as we grow together."

Blue added that UC Davis is "excited about what's to come on the beach, so to speak."


Notes: The Big West champion Hawaii went 37-5 and finished third at the NCAA championships at Gulf Shores, Ala. …Besides the SandBows (as Hawaii is known) and now the Aggies, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, CSUN, Cal State Bakersfield and Sacramento State round out the Big West Conference. …"We're eager about the popularity of the sport," concludes Blue. "We feel like there's an opportunity for (UC Davis) to have a festival-type atmosphere. Toward the end of the season, that weather is going to be pretty good … it will be really fun for everybody to be participating and watching."