TAMPA (www.sportsdayjax.com) – University of South Florida Vice President for Athletics Michael Kelly and new Beach Volleyball Head Coach Pri Piantadosi-Lima have announced that the Bulls' newest intercollegiate athletics program will begin competition in the 2025-26 academic year.
"During the process of hiring Pri to lead our first-ever beach volleyball program, we began to look closely at the best timeline in respect to the recruiting cycle and having our first student-athletes on campus," said Kelly. "Pri’s deep knowledge of the sport and the recruiting cycles within it, as well as her past experience helping to establish a successful program at Eckerd led us to this strategic timeline that will allow her to build a roster for sustained success."
Piantadosi-Lima, who previously led the Optimum Beach program out of St. Petersburg that has produced more than 90 collegiate athletes in the sport, was hired to lead the USF program on June 6 and has been active on the recruiting trail.
The Bulls' first beach volleyball student-athletes are slated to arrive on campus in fall 2024 and will spend the 2024-25 academic year training and playing in exhibition matches. Construction on the USF Beach Volleyball Complex, to be located within the current Athletics district footprint on the USF Tampa campus, is scheduled to begin in late fall 2023 and is targeted for completion by the summer 2024. Per NCAA rules, beach volleyball prospects cannot be contacted before June 15 of their junior year. By starting the program in 2025-26, the coaching staff will be able to recruit 2024 players – including high school graduates, transfers and international players – that will then have a year on campus prior to competition, as well as add a full cycle of 2025 graduates to build a robust roster prior to beginning competition. Beach volleyball’s championship competition season is in the spring semester. "The goal for USF all along has been to not simply sponsor beach volleyball, but to become regionally and nationally competitive in the sport and these changes allow Pri and her staff the strategic timetable to do that," Kelly said. "Having the ability to recruit two solid classes to build the foundation of this program as we enter our first competitive season puts us in a strong position from which to launch a successful program,” Piantadosi-Lima said. “I continue to work to put my staff in place and meet young athletes across the country that are excited about the possibilities at USF. I am very enthusiastic about what we are building in Tampa.”