TAMPA, Fla. — The University of South Florida has fielded an indoor volleyball team since 1972. But, for the first time this spring, USF will be playing volleyball in the sand.
“I’m so grateful I found this program in my recruiting journey,” Sasha Pasloski said. “We have the chance to literally make history. We have a chance to set records, build it from the ground up, make it what we want to be.”
That history began in 2023 when USF announced it was adding Women’s Beach Volleyball. The program played an unofficial practice season in 2025, but now the games will count.
"We’re starting off as nobody, but we’re coming off exactly who we are,” Josephine Sek said. “We’re going to work hard for everything and leave everything we have on and off the court.”
“Coach Pri says it all the time, ‘We’re not good yet. We haven’t gotten their yet.’ The expectations come from us, and that’s one of the most powerful assets that we have,” Pasloski added.
Those expectations might be higher than normal for a first-year program. Head coach Pri Piantadosi-Lima has worked hard to recruit high-level student-athletes from around the world.
“We’re able to bring some really good talents around the country, two national champion transfers, top four from Cal Poly, we have TCU, USC, and South Carolina,” Piantadosi-Lima said. “So, it was really cool. Bring some really strong international players. We’re able to not start from the bottom. We’re going to be turning some heads.”
USF will compete in Conference USA. They’ll play their home matches on Clearwater Beach. The Bulls will open their debut campaign on Feb. 20 at Tulane.
“As a coach, you got to maintain that level-headedness,” Piantadosi-Lima said. “But inside, I’m just beaming. I’m driving home, visualizing winning the conference, being in Gulf Shores. Really working to be at that level.”
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