April 15, 2009

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The North Carolina volleyball team will send nine athletes to Riverside, Calif. this weekend to partake in the 2009 Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship hosted by CBS College Sports, and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and AVP Pro Beach Volleyball set to be held April 18. The Tar Heels will send four separate teams to compete in the event and will matched up with No. 4 Texas, No. 7 Hawai'i and No. 19 San Diego in pool play.

In the "A" flight for Carolina will be graduating senior Stephanie Jansma and rising senior Christine Vaughen, while rising senior Heather Brooks will team up with rising sophomore Kaylie Gibson in the "B" flight. The "C" flight will feature graduating senior Lauren Prussing with rising junior Suzanne Haydel. Closing out the Carolina contingent will be a three-member squad in the "D" flight consisting of graduating senior Brianna Eskola, rising senior Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland and rising sophomore Erica Behm.

"This is a great opportunity for our team to compete at the national level in an emerging area of our sport," head coach Joe Sagula said. "There will be great competition in California and we are looking forward to representing our school and our conference."

The other pool of competition will feature No. 3 Nebraska, No. 13 USC, No. 16 Utah and UC-Riverside. Following pool play the teams will be matched up in the final round. The Tar Heels will take on Texas at 8:30 a.m. PT before going up against Hawai'i at 9:30 a.m. PT and then closing out pool play at 10:10 a.m PT against San Diego.

The Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship is part of the fourth annual Alt Games, a first-of-its kind event showcasing college action sports championships. Television coverage will kick off with the Alt Game Preview Show on Saturday, May 9 at 7 p.m. Portions of the event will be televised by CBS Sports on Saturday, May 16 at 2 p.m.