MOREHEAD, Ky. – For the most part, the Morehead State beach volleyball team is comprised of members of the indoor volleyball team. However, there are four athletes who specialize in playing on sand.

Bella Williams, Margaret Musselman, Anya Reinhard, and Trinity Miller all started out playing indoors, but found there was something special about playing in the sand.

Bella Williams is a graduate of South Oldham High School in Louisville, Ky., and got her start in beach volleyball after watching her parents play in an indoor beach rec league as a child.

"I started out in indoor, but watching my parents gave me the desire to try out beach," Williams said, "I played both for a while, but beach really called to me because of the mental side. It's just you and your partner out there, if you're playing bad it's on you to pick it up."

Margaret Musselman and Trinity Miller both hail from the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, and picked up beach volleyball as a club sport after playing indoor.

"We actually grew up playing against each other," Musselman said, "But college beach is so much different than it is in high school."

Miller added on to that statement, saying, "In high school, at least where we're from, as you continue to get better you just get a new partner because it's a club sport. Here at Morehead State, we have a set team which brings more of a support system outside of just the coaches."

Anya Reinhard is a sophomore from Tarpon Springs, Florida and came up playing both beach and indoor, and moved to beach only as a senior.

"One thing I really enjoy about beach is the added strategy because there's only one other person with you rather than five. In indoor, the extra people give everyone a sort of set role. The libero normally is out there to pass; setters may only have to set. On the sand you have to do it all."

Head Coach Kyrsten Becker-McBride echoed the strategy statements her athletes noted.

"With the limited communication to pairs during the match, it is important to be efficient when we communicate changes," she said. "The biggest responsibility falls on the pair, because they have to figure out changes and work on a strategy together since coaches can't talk to them as often. In addition to that, when the ones, twos, and threes play, there are only two coaches and three courts going so there is usually a pair without a coach. Pairs have a lot of autonomy, which is one of the biggest differences between indoor and beach."

Becker-McBride is currently in her third season as the head coach of MSU's Beach Volleyball program and completed her 10^th season as an assistant for the indoor team. Under her tutelage, the Eagles' Beach program won the first-ever OVC regular season title in 2021.

The Beach team is currently 9-9 on the season, and 2-0 on home sand at Fazoli's Breadstick Beach. Morehead State will look for its first OVC tournament title this week, with home-court advantage in its favor as the OVC tournament is in Morehead this season.