PALO ALTO, Calif. – The Utah beach volleyball team is set to open its inaugural season at the Stanford Invitational. The two-day event will be held Friday and Saturday, March 10-11, in Palo Alto, Calif.
 
"We are very pleased with the improvement we've seen in our players on the beach volleyball side of our training which began in January," said beach assistant coach Beth Launiere. "The learning curve and the excitement level has been high. We are not sure what to expect in our first season of beach volleyball, but anxious to play against other teams and measure where we are, and what areas of improvement we need to address." 
 
The Utes open beach competition on Friday facing tournament host, Stanford. First serve is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. PT. Utah will close out the Stanford Invitational playing two matches on Saturday, beginning with California on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. PT, and then wrapping up competition against St. Mary's at 1 p.m. PT.
 
The Utah beach volleyball team is comprised from most of the Utah indoor team members and the addition of freshman Dani Barton, who enrolled in January. Joining Barton from the indoor team include: juniors Carly Trueman, Adora Anae, Tawnee Luafalemana, and Eliza Katoa; sophomores Berkeley Oblad, Emily Twohig, and Megan Boudreaux; along with freshmen Torre Glasker, Bailey Choy, Brianna Doehrmann, and Lauren Sproule.
 
Following play at the Stanford Invitational, the Utes will also be in action on Sunday, March 12, when they take on San Francisco at 9 a.m. PT and Pacific at 10:30 a.m. PT. Both matches will be played in San Francisco.