By Stanley Hayes
Contributing Writer
The fledgling Wingate men’s beach volleyball program is gearing up for a challenging weekend at the Men’s Beach Collegiate Challenge at Stevenson University in Maryland this weekend (Sept. 19-21).
The USA Volleyball-sanctioned event will feature some of the nation’s top college talent and the Bulldogs will be facing players from Liberty, Erskine, Lincoln Memorial, Tusculum and Stevenson, among other schools.
An invitational format will allow each school to enter its top three pairs, and medals will be awarded to the top three finishers overall. Wingate’s first pair, sophomore Drake Price of Georgia and junior Ryan Luttrell from Colorado, headline the Bulldogs’ lineup. Both have impressed coaches during the early season and now face the challenge of competing against elite pairs from across the country.
“It’s a real challenge,” said Price, a 6-1 Split from Senoia, Ga. “There’s a lot at stake for all of us, but we’re ready for whatever.”
Ohio State transfer Niko Williams, a 6-6 junior blocker, and 6-1 Pennsylvania sophomore Bradley Heinbaugh will join Price and Luttrell as Wingate’s second pair in the tournament. The third pair will be made up of 6-6 local product Josh Vickers, a senior who went to high school at nearby Monroe Piedmont, and 6-4 Virginia Beach sophomore Conor Sledge. They’ll compete against 29 other duos in the 32-team draw.
Coach Anne Marie Taylor is confident in her team’s abilities and is unaffected by facing reputable programs.
“They seem very established too,” said Taylor, when asked about soon facing notable beach volleyball schools like Stevenson and Erskine.“[Our program] is so brand new that it can really be anyone that rises to the top here, and we’re hoping to do that really soon.”
Wingate added men’s beach volleyball as its 29th sport in March, along with women’s flag football and men’s rugby. The Bulldogs will play this season as a club team and become a full-fledged NCAA participant in 2026.
Wingate Triangle 