Round Rock has produced a high level indoor volleyball program over the years, but very few know that many of the players on these teams compete in sand volleyball outside of school as well. Sophomores Kaeley Mehok, Calynn Griffin, Elle Cassady, and Joley Plummer all play competitive sand volleyball throughout the year.

“It is such a different game,” Cassady said. “In sand volleyball, you only have one other person on the court with you, so the need for communication and precision is at an all time high.”

Cassady,Plummer, and Mehok play sand volleyball for Austin Junior Volleyball in Cedar Park where they have been playing together for close to three years. All three of these girls have competed together and made it to Nationals in California at least once.

“Getting to Nationals and winning there are two different things,” Cassady said. “I have had the amazing opportunity to go there and be successful with both Kaeley and Joley. California is always the end goal.”

Calynn is at a different point in her sand volleyball journey. Over the past summer, she started playing sand volleyball for Project Serve after taking a two-year break to focus on club volleyball. After finishing club season last year, she wanted a change of pace and play, which is what compelled her to return to sand volleyball.

“These past couple months have been really challenging for a variety of reasons,” Griffin said. “I have had to relearn the game of sand volleyball while putting the rules and strategies of indoor volleyball to rest. It’s starting to get better, but it’s a continuous work in progress.”

All four of these girls are looking to go to college on sand volleyball scholarships. With two and a half years left in high school before college rolls around, these girls have began to play with people from other cities and started to put their name out there. Cassady, Mehok, and Plummer are all looking to make a return to Nationals this summer while Calynn is looking to get to nationals for her first time.

While each girl is at a different point in her sand volleyball story, all four have the same goals in mind. Get to Nationals and get to college on a sand volleyball scholarship.

“Right now looking forward I would not be opposed to playing sand volleyball at the collegiate level,” Griffin said. “While I have a long way to go before that idea could become a reality, I could definitely see myself getting there. It’s going to require a lot of hard work and persistence but I’m going to throw everything I have at getting there.”