June 30, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The NCAA announced on Tuesday its 90th championship will be called beach volleyball.

The sport was called sand volleyball when it was placed on the NCAA’s list of emerging sports in 2009, but with it known as beach volleyball at all other levels of competition outside of collegiate athletics, the committee that overseas the sport has made the decision to change the name to beach volleyball with the support of all three divisions’ championship committees, the American Volleyball Coaches Association and USA Volleyball.

The inaugural NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship will be held in the spring of 2016 and will feature an eight-team bracket with a double-elimination format. More details on the championship will be released at a later date.

A total of 50 colleges and universities sponsor beach volleyball, making it the fastest growing NCAA sport. The 2016 season will be the third for the South Carolina beach volleyball team. The Gamecocks finished 2015 with a 14-7 record, which is nearly triple the win total of their inaugural season (5-12). Carolina earned a No. 17 ranking in the final DiG Magazine Poll.