COSTA MESA – Vanguard spring sports would not be complete without Vanguard women's beach volleyball, as the storied program heads offshore to venture through another exciting voyage on the way.

VU made it through their first lap of NCAA DII, grounding new soil, facing new foes, and saying goodbye to a few former national champions, which included the program's all-time leaders in career wins, Emma Galloway (70) and Madison Arnold (54).

Thankfully, ninth year Head Coach Kris Dorn is back and ready to steer the ship, as the Lions set course for their second season as an NCAA DII program.

Last spring, Dorn and the Lions leapt into the fire, going 12-17 on the year, which included the coach's 100th career win at the helm to start March. The Blue and Gold would close out the campaign on a high note, however, going 3-3 down the stretch to finish second place in the silver bracket at the AVCA DII Championships.

This year's journey to the national tournament still presents its fair share of adjustments and changes within the season's structure, but the Lions now warrant a well-taken year under their belt to reassess the playing field.

"It's been nice to have some reflection and separation from last year," started Dorn. "We had a little bit of an identity crisis [last season] in terms of figuring out what this D2 thing really looks like… [but] that first year, that new experience, it was good for us, to get a feel of where we fit in here."

The Lions had a large catalog of competition to find their footing, sporting a 7-1 record against NAIA schools, a 0-10 margin versus DI programs, and a 5-6 split taking on their fellow DII adversaries. In 2026, the calendar construction remains a vast sea of varying opponents, with the Lions wielding a strong-willed mentality centered around growth and adaptability.

"We've had at least three preseason matches that we've been fortunate to be able to play in, and our overall offseason focus has primarily been about our adaptation and execution around the things we've been learning and reinforcing," noted Dorn. "We want to continuously get better as we go along, and that includes at the national tournament and through the national tournament in April.

Embarking on the 23+ game journey are eight returners and eight newcomers to make up the 16-player crew in 2026. They will also be aided by new assistant coach Christine DeRoos, who offers "a wealth of experience and gives [VU] a look behind the curtain of high-level programs" after her standout career at Long Beach State and Cal.

"I love our eight returners," kicked off Dorn when commenting on his returning class, "They were a shining example of seeing that national stage last year and raising their level and how they processed the game. [For me,] that's carried over and shown in the fall so far with the level they've been playing at."

The most experienced of the returners is the pair of second-year graduate students, Thea Snider and Anne Mayfield. Snider was the mainstay at VU's No. 1 pair, where she contributed to all 11 wins (11-15) at the position last year and also went 1-0 in a solo appearance at No. 2. Mayfield, meanwhile, made her trade filling out VU's No. 3 pair, where she was 6-18.

Juniors Gianna Pecile and Cassie Smits Van Oyen were the sole breadwinners at VU's No. 4, as the duo combined for the team-best in wins (15-11) on the year and picked up the eighth-best single-season pair wins in program history. Pecile herself currently sits in eighth place for career wins (28) and can add to her stock to potentially shoot up to within the top three come the season's conclusion.

Rounding out the rest of the returners are Mariah Rua, Maya Jones, Jaydn Starling, and Ily Attinger.

VU fuels the remainder of the group with eight transfers, which makes for not just an experienced overall team, but VU's first beach volleyball team without a true freshman in its eight-year lifespan.  

"Yeah all eight of our newcomers are transfers as well," chuckled Dorn, "With a large number of them being in the Pairs Championships at junior level."

If one's been following the community college beach volleyball scene over the past two seasons, transfer Myah Gomez is a good place to start. The junior hails from the community college powerhouse San Diego Mesa, where she was a presence in both the indoor and outdoor programs. The Olympians were paramount during her two-year stint as the beach program went 42-10 during the stretch, with Gomez at the spear of SD Mesa's No. 1 pair. She was a multiple-time conference champion, the 2024 Pairs State Champion, a third-place Pairs State Champion in 2025, and the Team State Champion with Mesa last spring.

Jordan Packer is another standout performer joining the group from Orange Coast College, where she excelled in the ones to win the Orange Empire Conference Pairs Conference Tournament and placed eighth at the Pairs State Championships last May. She also played indoor volleyball as a setter and was named OEC MVP after leading the Pirates to their first conference championships since 2009.  

Hayden Johnston also played at the 3C2A Pairs Championships last season, competing in the same pool as Packer but sporting different colors. Johnston represented Golden West College, leading a quality Rustler pair and also suiting up as an opposite hitter for the indoor team, packing 2.20 kills per set and finishing in second in team digs with 194.

Avery Bennett, out of Irvine Valley College, is another seasoned veteran who joins the pack, playing two years of beach and one season of indoor volleyball at IVC. Last year with the Lasers, her pair was named First Team All-OEC, finished second at the conference championships, and also featured in the So-Cal Regionals. She also claimed a beach OEC Team Title time in 2024, going 14-0. As an indoor competitor, she helped IVC claim the conference crown and forge a run to the 32CA State Championship Semifinal in 2023.

Josephine Springer will also be familiar with her new teammates, as she was a regular with Mt. San Jacinto at both indoor and beach levels. Springer finished in the round of 16 in the State Pairs Championships her freshman year and followed it up with a historic season for the program in 2025, where she reached the PCAC Tournament Final and lifted her Eagles to a third-place finish at the 32CA Beach Volleyball Championship in May.

Transfer Elsa Gilmore returns to beach volleyball, a stage she excelled in during high school as a three-sport varsity player. The junior played indoor volleyball with her last two collegiate programs, starting with Westminster University in Utah before going to another DII program in Southern New Hampshire, where she tallied 151 kills and 28 blocks as an opposite hitter.

The final two newcomers are Kyra Myers, who last featured at Riverside City College with the beach team, and Jenae Moore, who redshirted her true freshman campaign last season at Folsom.

The group's pedigree, however, isn't the only thing that excites Coach Dorn.

"Every team that we've had that has been successful has been a great blend of athletic ability, IQ, and an eagerness to learn that frequently challenges the group to continuously raise their level."

Dorn sees these traits too in his current squad and spoke to the building blocks of getting the most out of the myriads of potential partnerships that could emerge by February.

"There are so many factors that go into how to build those partnerships," shared Dorn. "This is going to be more of a traditional year with a blocker with a defender [pairing], but we're also willing to mix and match [to] find [everyone's] best strengths together. It's definitely still a work in progress."

The Lions will have plenty of season to calcify a completed canvas with another loaded docket for the 2026 season.

"There's some freedom there [with scheduling]; it's still heavier on the DI sides this season. It can be tough when you have no skeleton of a conference schedule to build around."

The Blue and Gold will instead build around their cultivated relationships with DI programs to make up the spine of their schedule, as they'll face seven DI programs, three DII institutions, six NAIA foes, and a community college match against Mira Costa, which will not count toward their overall record.

VU starts the season hosting CSU Los Angeles and Mira Costa CC on February 7 at the courts near the intersection of Brookhurst and PCH. Then it's out to Arizona to rehash some GSAC roots with OUAZ and Arizona Christian. The Lions will also cross paths with Bushnell (Feb. 13) and Simpson (Feb. 14) for the first time in program history. Vanguard finishes the month at three more venues, starting in Malibu at Pepperdine and against Washington (Feb. 20). They will host on more local territory in Irvine at OC Great Park with two matches on Feb. 21 (CSU Los Angeles & Concordia) then conclude Black History Month out in Bakersfield (The Masters & CSU Bakersfield).

Despite a two-week hiatus, the Blue and Gold will power through 11 games in March, with five of the fixtures being against DI programs. They launch the month with a rematch against TMU on the 14 at OC Great Park, then head back to Malibu for a duel between Tulane and Pepperdine. The Lions return to Huntington Beach on the 24 when they take on UC Davis and Concordia. They end March with five games in two days, starting on Friday, the 27 (CSUSN  & CSU Los Angeles) and finishing late Saturday afternoon the following day (CUI / HIU / CSU Bakersfield).

VU will complete the season on April 11 against San Francisco and Pepperdine as the final act before heading to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for the AVCA NCAA DII Championships.

"Every new year, you start off with a clean slate, but at the same time build on the progress of the past," commented Dorn. "Obviously, we hope that progress and success translate to wins. [But] I've really just been excited about the way the team has been playing and how they've been participating with the IQ part of the game, especially."

The group is ready to put their practice to the test and continue to grow game in and game out.

"This entire thing is a journey about learning," reflected Dorn. "And our hope is to continue our anchor point in being growth-oriented and process-oriented."

The Lions will plunge their anchors into the 2026 season against CSU Los Angeles, on Saturday, February 7, at 10 a.m. on the Brookhurst & PCH Courts in Huntington Beach.