Babson Park, Fla. - May 1st 2010 was the kickoff to the Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championships. For players Trisha Belcher and Noelle Bay it was bound to be a tough day from the moment they woke up.
Game one had them matched up against indoor powerhouse ranked #7 in the country, University of Illinois. The Warriors coach Tim Edfors joined the girls in California to ease pre-game jitters and give the girls advice and tactics against the opponents they faced as the day went on. He had a lot of confidence in his girls knowing that they had a lot more experience in the sand over the last few months which would help them handle the elements, including 35mph gusts of winds and the hot beading sun.
“Beach volleyball is more of a strategy game than a game of brute force,” Edfors stated, a lesson that some of the heaviest hitters in the NCAA were about to learn.
Webber came out of pool play 2nd after defeating the forces of the University of Illinois as well as Texas Christian University. This spot earned Webber a first round bye in the double elimination tournament, which set the Warriors up in a good place in bracket play.
After the short break Webber had to match up against the University of Delaware who had player Stephanie Barry, a California native who has already competed in several AVP events, on their side. The warriors fell in a tight match to the highly skilled team.
The loss placed them against TCU who they had already defeated earlier but this time the odds were evening out. The exhaustion Noelle Bay suffered from staying up nearly the entire night before with food poisoning was finally catching up to her. After seeing her lack of strength and energy to compete Coach Edfors made a game time adjustment that Trisha Belcher was more than ready to step up to. He instructed Bay to bail on blocking in order to conserve energy and requested that Belcher cover 75% of the court on serve receive.
The adjustments led the Warriors to pull back from behind and win the match, eliminating TCU from the tournament. Moments after the Warriors were informed the following opponent would be UCLA one of the highest ranked teams in the country with decades built on a strong reputation. Drained of energy Noelle Bay was given an energy drink by teammate Trisha Belcher and told to rest.
This match would determine just how tough the warriors could be. Trisha Belcher knew she had to step up for her teammate and immediately answered the call coming out of the gate with an ace which followed up by a hitting error by UCLA giving Webber the immediate lead. The game continued as Webber relied on strategy and tactic. They were in a zone and focused on the game that could potentially end their weekend.
The girls were focused and steady which is what any coach wishes for in a big match. The Warriors won both matches within points (21-17, 21-18) leaving bystanders, cheering for the underdogs, on the edge of their seats. The victory eliminated UCLA from the tournament and leaves the warriors to play Sunday morning with the final 6 teams remaining.