Murphy – Lady Bulldogs junior Olivia Payne decided to take a chance.
Payne watched beach volleyball on television during the Olympics and was always interested in the sport. So when one of her travel volleyball teammates with the North Georgia Aces was going to beach volleyball tryouts at S3 Beach Volleyball Club near Atlanta, she decided to tag along.
Payne started the summer as a novice, but progressed quickly. By July, she was good enough to play at the Beach Volleyball Club of America National Championship in Huntington Beach, Calif. She is getting more college interest on the beach than she ever did on the hardcourt.
“It was amazing to me how I could fall into a sport unexpectedly and fall in love with it so quickly,” Payne said. “And just kind of be on my grind and get so good at it.”
While many may think of beach volleyball as a sport restricted to the coasts, it’s made its way to Metro Atlanta. Landlocked states physically have to build courts, with S3 using a five-court facility in Badger Creek in Canton, Ga., where Payne practices, and 11 courts at the Lake Point Sports Facility in Emerson, Ga.
Nicole Christner, Payne’s coach at S3, likes to call beach volleyball “the great equalizer.” Payne plays outside hitter in indoor volleyball, and at 5-foot-9 is not quite tall enough to be a hitter at the Division I level.
On sand, you can’t jump as high, so height isn’t as much of a factor. Beach volleyball has two players on a court, compared to six in indoor volleyball, so players can’t just focus on one position and are involved in every point.
“You have to be great at every single part of the game, not just specialized,” Christner said.” You touch the ball every single play, and you have to do every single skill or fundamental that’s involved.”
The other big challenge in transitioning to beach volleyball is relearning the fundamentals. With the ball a little bit lighter and bigger than the one used in indoor volleyball, the passing technique is different, and hitting is more about placement than just crushing the ball.
Though Payne had a lot to learn, she was a quick study. She worked with Christner in private training sessions starting last November, then moved on to beach volleyball full-time after the indoor club season ended.
By the end of the season, she was one of 10 out of 110 athletes in the S3 program that represented the club at nationals. The event was a big step up in competition, with Payne and her partner, Highlands junior India Clark, struggling in pool play before winning three matches in the u16s bronze bracket.
“It was very much a learning experience because we were actually playing on a more intense beach,” Payne said. “We had to fight with the wind, fight with the atmosphere, with these girls that have been playing ever since they were little. It was absolutely insane.”
Moving back to the indoor court this fall, Payne noticed significant growth in her play. She could jump higher, see the court better, and felt she was a better all-around player.
Payne has been an important piece for the Big Smoky Mountain Conference champion Lady Bulldogs. She finished second on the team in kills (298), digs (248) and fourth in service aces (23).
“There’s really not anything she can’t do,” Murphy head coach Jordan Lovingood said.
After the high school season, Payne is planning to try out for S3’s year-round beach volleyball program. Though she’s looking to play beach volleyball at the next level, it hasn’t directly overtaken indoor volleyball yet for her.
“It’s like picking between my two favorite children,” Payne said.
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. I just fell in love with beach so quickly, and it’s so new to me – but indoor, it’s always been there, so that’s a very hard question for me.”