TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (April 9, 2020) - The Salt Lake Community College beach volleyball program was looking forward to opening competition in the 2020 season, playing a limited club schedule that would serve as a precursor to the program's future growth.

Instead, the Bruins are sitting at home this spring, thanks to the COVID-19 global health pandemic. Now Salt Lake is looking back at what could have been this spring, while also utilizing the foundation it has constructed to build for the future. 

SLCC coach Sue Dulaney said not being able to play this season has been extremely frustrating, especially after the work the program put in to get started.

"Our preseason preparation was going well," she said. "We made huge strides in our strength performance labs, regarding power and verticals.  On the sand court, our communication grew exponentially. Our beach season was to open on Ventura and Huntington Beaches over Spring Break but COVID-19 changed all of that.  We had begun practicing outside in addition to training in our indoor facility, which is the Sandbar.  I felt we were in a good place to be tested by someone other than ourselves."

Salt Lake had a strong schedule in its first year of competition, including matchups with several NCAA opponents, California junior college opponents and even longtime Scenic West foes such as Southern Idaho and Colorado Northwestern. The Bruins were set to play four Southern California schools in mid-March before the cancellations.

Still, Dulaney said the future for the sand program at Salt Lake is bright and hopeful.

"We accomplished many things this spring," she said. "Filling our playing schedule with six dates this year was a huge bonus as is it required to compete in the small college beach championships; hopefully next year we will be competing in Alabama for a chance at those titles."