SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. (March 25, 2014) – On the heels of its growing popularity at both the collegiate and professional level, Pac-12 Networks is excited to announce the addition of sand volleyball to its slate of 20 sports accounting for 750 live event telecasts this season.

In its first season on the Networks, five live sand volleyball matches will be televised to a national audience beginning Thursday, March 27 at 3:00 p.m. PT with a doubleheader featuring the second-ranked USC Trojans hosting Cal State Northridge (0-7), followed by Oregon (1-4).

All five Pac-12 Network televised matches will take place from USC’s Merle Norman Stadium and feature versatile play-by-play voice Anne Marie Anderson alongside three-time Olympian and former Pac-10 star Holly McPeak calling the action. The final three matches take place Thursday, April 3 with Loyola Marymount squaring off against USC (1:30 p.m. PT), then UCLA (3:00 p.m. PT) before the Bruins and Trojans meet in a cross-town battle at 4:30 p.m. PT.

Speaking to its national popularity, 40 schools have adopted sand volleyball programs, making it eligible to become an NCAA-sanctioned championship sport, pending budget approval. The Pac-12 leads collegiate conferences in sand volleyball programs with eight schools – Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC and Washington – all currently sponsoring teams. Additionally, Pac-12 alumni such as McPeak, Elaine Youngs, Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan of UCLA and Kerri Walsh-Jennings and Barbra Fontana of Stanford are some of the sand volleyball’s top earners of all-time.

2014 Pac-12 Networks Sand Volleyball Televised Schedule