Some of beach volleyball's biggest stars are in San Diego this week, but not at the beach. Top players are competing at an indoor tournament at Viejas Arena, where organizers are bringing in hundreds of tons of sand.
A graduate of Torrey Pines High School, Megan Kraft is back in San Diego this week to compete in the AVP League volleyball event on Friday and Saturday at Viejas Arena. Organizers are bringing truckloads of sand onto the court where the Aztecs play basketball to conduct a televised indoor beach volleyball tournament.
"No wind, no sun, not as hot, so it definitely brings that indoor feeling to it. The sand might not be as deep as a normal beach, so I think it brings a lot of excitement," Kraft said.
Terese Cannon is Kraft's partner and says while they may be playing indoors, this is still beach volleyball.
"Beach players are equally if not more athletic than indoor players. If you think about it, the surface is always moving, so being able to create force and propel yourself through the sand and up into the air is hard, and there's only two of you," Cannon said.
Both players agree that this is just another way to build interest and find new fans outside of the Olympics.
"10 years ago, beach volleyball wasn't even a collegiate sport, and now, it's the fastest growing, and still growing," Kraft said.
And after it's all over, the sand gets donated to local schools to help build new competitive beach volleyball courts.
"I don't know how long it takes to clean up, but I know it takes a while to set up. I think they bring in, like, 300 tons of sand. So, it's crazy," Kraft said.
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