Throughout the spring, girls beach volleyball players have been hard at work at the newly established beach volleyball court after school everyday during the season.

Beach volleyball shares similarities with indoor volleyball. On the Benjamin team, there are six pairs of players that compete. The game is broken up into three sets, which are played until one team reaches twenty-one points. The overall game is played to the best of three, meaning that if a team wins the first two sets, then the third set will be automatically won and the team would win the entire match.

“It is two on two and is played to 21. The teams switch sides every time both teams’ scores add to a multiple of 7, with the side switch adding to 21 as the “technical timeout”. Coaches are not allowed to coach during play but can do so during side switches and timeouts,” said Addie Bounds, a senior.

While beach volleyball is similar to indoor volleyball, it also shares significant differences. The court is slightly smaller, and players must be smarter with their plays.

Maggie Smith, a sophomore, comments on how the entire team was excited to begin playing, and played well towards the beginning of spring season.

“The season started off really well. The whole team was pumped to get onto the beach for the inaugural season,” says Smith.

Freshman Elizabeth Bischoff remarks on the team’s attitude in the beginning of the season with a comment similar to Smith’s. The team performed well throughout the season, but did exceptionally well in a match against AAU Coast. The match was the first time many players had ever competed in a beach game, leading them to put any fear or uncertainty aside. This resulted in a 5-0 sweep. TBS beach volleyball won their first match 21-2, 21-1, starting the season off with a victory.

“The beach season started and ended with energy and commitment from all players,” says Biscoff. “TBS beach volleyball competed well in all games but I felt that the best was when we swept a team at the beginning of the season.”

Practice occurred every school day after school, apart from Friday where practice was optional. Before games, the team listened to music beforehand to prepare and become enthusiastic. All players underwent lots of training because many were new to beach volleyball, and had previously participated in only indoor volleyball.

“Our season started with lots of conditioning and developing a basic understanding for the sport, as the majority of our players were indoor players, and had never played in the sand competitively before. Our team grew tremendously throughout the season and I couldn’t be more proud of the hard work each of my teammates put in,” said Bounds.

Both Elizabeth Biscoff and Maggie Smith expressed how Addie Bounds has been a player essential to the team. As a senior, she is committed to Cal Poly, and has lots of experience with beach volleyball. Bounds improved over the course of the season by focusing on her tactical communication and steadiness in games.

“She is the best role model for my team to look up to and you can always go to her when you need something,” says Smith.

Towards the end of the season, practices were more competition based and were set at a much faster pace. The last game of the season for TBS occurred at Suncoast. Smith expressed that many players on the team were exhausted and stressed the day of the game. The windy conditions during the game also made it difficult to play. Though the team may have lost at district semi-finals, they gained experience from playing throughout the season.