Utah Beach Volleyball Announces 2022 Schedule
SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah beach volleyball program announced its 2022 schedule on Wednesday afternoon, highlighted by seven appearances on the Pac-12 Networks this season and a home tournament to end the regular season.
"This is our first season with a full roster of recruited beach players," said head coach Brenda Whicker. "We have a tough schedule, but our young team is up for the challenge. We play some of the best beach teams in the nation right here in our own conference. The majority of the season we are competing on campus sand courts, but this year we have the opportunity to play a couple of matches on Manhattan Beach, which will be a memorable experience. We also have more matches scheduled on our host weekend than we have in the past, so if you have never watched college beach volleyball be sure to come out in April!"
Utah beach volleyball will compete against eight teams this season that finished in the top-11 last season, which includes national champions USC, runner-ups UCLA and third-ranked Loyola Marymount.
Utah will open its season on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25-26, with four matches at San Jose State. The Utes will face Santa Clara and Concordia Irvine on the first day of play, followed by Ottawa University (AZ) and host San Jose State on Saturday.
The Utes will then play in the two-day event at Colorado Mesa to continue non-conference action on Friday and Saturday, March 11-12. The Utes will play a pair of matches against Colorado Mesa, as well as have matchups against Salt Lake Community College and Trinidad State.
Prior to turning their attention to the Pac-12 South Event at the University of Arizona, Utah will compete against Grand Canyon on Friday, March 25 before beginning the weekend of conference play. The following two days will see a tough Pac-12 slate with matches against UCLA and USC on Saturday, while the Utes will play Stanford and Oregon on Sunday while in Tucson. All four Pac-12 matches will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
Taking a break from conference play, Utah will head to Irvine Valley College on April 1-2, facing Concordia and Master's University on the opening day of competition. Then, Utah will play a match against the host school Irvine Valley College and will close out Saturday's play against CSU Bakersfield. Then on Sunday, April 3, Utah will have the opportunity to play a pair of matches at Manhattan Beach against powerhouses UCLA and Loyola Marymount.
Utah returns to the Pac-12 slate with a trip to Palo Alto, Calif., to compete in the Pac-12 North Event at Stanford on Saturday and Sunday, April 9-10. The Utes will play Arizona, Washington and Arizona State with all three matches airing on the Pac-12 Networks, while also facing California.
The final regular season tournament for Utah will be its home tournament where the team will host Cal Poly, Arizona, Boise State and Salt Lake Community College. Utah's lone home event of the season will take place Friday and Saturday, April 22-23.
The 2022 Pac-12 Championships will be held in Tucson, Ariz., this season and will run Thursday through Saturday, April 28-30. The conference event will also be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
For a full look at the 2022 schedule with available match times, click here.