By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech beach volleyball team was selected to finish fifth in the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference standings in its inaugural season in a poll of head coaches and communication directors released Friday morning.
"Due to the unknown of what our beach volleyball program will look like in this inaugural season, we were selected exactly where I thought we would be in the preseason ranking," Tech head coach Zach Weinberg explained. "The preseason rank is simply a prediction, and I know the team is anxious to prove that the ranking for TTU was too low."
Skylar Boom was selected to the OVC's Beach Volleyball Preseason Player Top-10 List as well, a significant achievement for the junior who has yet to make her beach debut. A middle blocker during the indoor season, Boom captured All-OVC Second Team honors on the hardwood this past fall.
"Skylar being recognized on the preseason player list before she ever competes in a single point of beach volleyball just shows how much credibility she has built for herself indoors and the respect that she has commanded from the coaches around the league," Weinberg expressed. "For the OVC coaches to look at her and say 'we're not sure what she will bring to the sand, but her ability as a competitor deserves recognition," is a tremendous honor to the work Skylar has put in during her time as a Golden Eagle. She is off to a great start in the sand and is excited, like everyone else on the team, to start competing and prove that we will be a team people need to be worried about."
The 2023 beach volleyball season gets underway today, with the Golden Eagles competing at the Berry College Tournament. Tech will square off with Spartanburg Methodist and Carson-Newman in its first-ever day of action.
"This weekend could not come at a better time for us," Weinberg said. "We have been working so hard on learning the ropes of the beach game and competing hard daily in practices. It's time to experience other teams on the other side of the net and see how we execute what we learn in live play. This weekend is so exciting because we are going in with no idea what to expect, and that is going to allow us to hit the courts at Berry ready to play our game and put a stamp on this first-ever weekend of competition. Our team motto this year is 'Set the Standard,' and that all begins in this first weekend of competition."
The first OVC weekend will take place on March 24-25 at Chattanooga followed by the second weekend on April 21-22 at Morehead State.
The 2023 OVC Beach Volleyball Championship will be held at UT Martin on April 27-29.
2023 OVC Beach Volleyball Predicted Order of Finish
(as voted on by the league's head coaches and communication directors)
1. UT Martin (10 first-place votes) - 50 points
2. Chattanooga (2 first-place votes) - 40
3. Morehead State - 36
4. Eastern Illinois - 21
5. Tennessee Tech - 19
6. Lindenwood 14
2023 OVC Beach Volleyball Preseaon Player Top-10 List
(as voted on by the league's head coaches and communication directors)
1. Neva Clark, Chattanooga
2. Trinity Miller, Morehead State
3. Dylan Mott, UT Martin
T4. Anya Reinhard, Morehead State
Logan Wallick, UT Martin
Haeleigh Paulino, UT Martin
T7. Abby Hulsman, Morehead State
Kayla Carrell, UT Martin
9. Joy Courtwright, Chattanooga
10. Skylar Boom, Tennessee Tech
