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SALT LAKE CITY — After nine seasons as a sanctioned sport at the University of Utah, the university has chosen to discontinue it as a varsity sport after the academic season.
Utah made beach volleyball its 20th sanctioned sport in 2017 as a member of the Pac-12, which had a thriving beach volleyball league and room to grow. But with a move to the Big 12, and only three other schools participating in the sport in the new conference, Utah didn't have much of a path to grow the sport.
Additionally, in the Big 12, Utah lost the opportunity to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament even as a conference champion, like it could when a member of the Pac-12.
"This was an extremely difficult decision, and we did not arrive at this conclusion without a significant and appropriate amount of thought, consideration and consultation," Utah Athletic Director Mark Harlan said in a statement. "We looked at the landscape of intercollegiate beach volleyball and the future opportunities of our student-athletes."
Harlan said as part of their review, they saw that there were only 12 beach volleyball programs inside power conferences, "with little evidence of the sport expanding at this time."
"With the sport's growth stunted, and without the home facilities with amenities that allow us to host championship-level events, we are not providing the world-class experience that we seek to provide to our student-athletes," Harlan said.
Though it leaves some athletes in limbo, the university said it will honor all scholarships for the duration of the athlete's pursuit of an undergraduate degree.
The move to cut beach volleyball is not a direct result of a changing college landscape amid an impending House settlement case; however, other schools, such as Grand Canyon University this week cutting men's volleyball, have made similar moves.
