The day began just like any other for the UP’s beach volleyball team. Players donned their purple and black uniforms and grabbed their gear, ready to take on their opponents. Only this time, for the first time in nine years, they didn’t have to drive 45 minutes to another court.
Instead, the players got into their cars, pulled up a pregame playlist and drove five minutes to Franz Campus for the program’s inaugural home game on the UP campus.
On March 17, the Pilots secured a 3-2 victory in a close home match against Bushnell University, surrounded by friends, family, faculty and fellow student-athletes. Sophie Lee and Valerie Bruk delivered standout performances, sealing the win in their debut on the new courts.
Kili Robins high fives teammate during a beach volleyball match. Photo courtesy of Portland Pilots Digital Media.
Being able to host home games has been a long-awaited dream for players like senior Sophie Lee, who has been a part of the program for four years. When Lee first joined the program as a first-year, she was under the impression that UP would have its own official courts.
However, due to construction delays caused by the pandemic, her debut as a Pilot on Portland territory was postponed.
“I had come to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to see courts my whole time here,” Lee said. “I was told they would be here for my freshman year, but time kept going on and I wasn't seeing improvement.”
But, in 2024, the Tom and Meg Names Family Foundation Beach Volleyball Courts officially opened, finally fulfilling the hopes of many beach volleyball players and allowing the program to host home games and tournaments.
News of the program’s inaugural home game spread quickly, drawing dozens of people who came out to watch the game and cheer on the team.
“It was surreal,” Lee said. “The coolest thing for me was being able to look and see over half of the men's soccer team there, and a couple of them were my roommates in the past. It was really cool to look over and see them cheering for us. It added to the energy of it [the game].”
Several UP beach volleyball players, including junior Annika Stammberger, credit the new courts with boosting their competitive progress. Previously, the team had to split practice sessions across multiple time blocks, taking up nearly four hours each day.
However, the addition of the courts now streamlines their training and fosters greater unity within the team.
“It feels really connected now, honestly,” Stammberger said. “It makes me feel like we are more of a real team… We are actually getting a lot better faster, honestly, and you can see the progression because we are all together at the same time.”
Another factor that Stammberger believes enhances their competitive abilities is the added support that comes with an on-campus space to compete. In the past, games were either an hour or a plane flight away, making it difficult for people to attend. But now, with games being hosted on campus, games are more accessible to the team’s friends, family, professors and other athletes to attend.
“It was really nice to go back to serve and be able to see all my friends sitting in the grass and cheering me on,” Stammberger said. “Some of them even brought posters.”
Dylan Hamilton, who has served as the assistant coach for UP indoor volleyball and the head coach of beach volleyball since 2018, believes that support from the administration has been instrumental to the beach volleyball program's growth.
“Over the past six and seven years, the support from admin has been great,” Hamilton said. “Financially, [they have] invested in our courts, our players, our facilities and our ability to recruit more players to our area.”
However, Hamilton acknowledges that there is still progress to be made.
“I want a full-time assistant coach that can be out there all the time with the beach team in the fall,” Hamilton said. “This would allow us to recruit more beach players and hopefully get to eight full-time beach players.”
Hamilton credits Lee, Stammberger, Taylor Helle and Michela Strati — the longest-standing members of the beach volleyball team — for their essential role in being the core of the program and helping it grow to where it is today.
“There's been ups and downs,” Hamilton said. “But they’ve stuck it out through a couple of tougher years and they have made us a lot better and far more competitive than we could have without their presence, for sure. I have a lot of gratitude to them for staying around and being loyal to our program.”
UP beach volleyball eagerly anticipates their next and final home game of the season, scheduled for this Friday, April 19, at 12 p.m. against the University of Oregon.
“We always go to Oregon's court, and they’ve never come to ours,” Stammberger said. “So I’m excited for the home advantage.”
This game will also serve as senior night and hold special significance for Lee, the only all beach senior on the team, who will make her final home debut.
“I am just really excited to be able to have that [senior] game on my home court — it’s something really simple but cool.”
Julianna Pedone is the Sports Section Editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at pedone25@up.edu
