SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University beach volleyball squad will make its first appearance in action this weekend at the newly constructed Corban Beach Volleyball Courts, and has captured the interest of the Corban community ahead of their debut.

Head coach Diana Villalpando takes the reigns of the program in addition to her assistant coaching duties for the indoor team. She is joined by two athletes from the indoor squad, Lauren Condon and Kaitlin Hunter, as they will look to steady the squad in its first year of existence.

To begin the season, the Navy and Gold will host the Northwest Christian University Club team on March 13, which will be followed by a dual with NCAA Division I University of Portland's varsity squad on the successive day.

The Warriors will then hit the road to face the same Portland team just a week later, before trekking down to southern California for a triangular against NAIA opponents Hope International University and the University of Saint Katherine on March 25.

The season will finish with a seven-match homestand from April 4-April 19, including a triangular with the NCU Club team and the University of Oregon on April 4.

In addition to Condon and Hunter, there are a whole host of brand-new faces, but it does not mean that there is a lack of experience. Melanie Miller and Janessa Mast each bring four years of collegiate volleyball experience from the indoor arena in their previous careers at Concordia (Ore.) and Warner Pacific, respectively.

The list of newcomers consists of seven transfers and six freshmen, which reflects a good balance of experience and youth for the team's inaugural season.

Coach Villalpando has devised her lineup with a diverse landscape, pairing the experienced Condon and Miller, Mast and freshman Natalia Olabarrieta, transfers Brandee Burton and Samantha Fast, freshman Tyra Ching and transfer Peyton Timmons, and Hunter and freshman Camille Cowles. The pair of Shelby Martin and Kiara Hayes also will look to make an impact for the Navy and Gold as the season rolls along. The squad features players from all different levels of experience, which will lead to well-rounded duos.

Condon and Miller figure to lead the Navy and Gold as the top pair for the 2020 season, as their grouping has obtained the most collegiate experience of any of the Warrior duos.

Between the success of Mast's indoor career and Olabarrieta's potential, the squad's projected number two tandem will hope to challenge opposing pairs.

The transfer team, made up of Burton and Fast, hopes to use what they each have learned previously at the collegiate level to make them the feared duo that they know they can be.

The final three pairings consist of an excellent and experienced collegiate player and an incoming freshman that coach Villalpando sees as extremely talented, and will make the tandems work with ease.

In the team's first year of competition, the Warriors will make use of the sparkling, new beach courts on the Corban University campus. The squad will look to keep the fire of excitement surrounding their commencement burning as they enter the spring season's matches.