Even though the 2020 San Jose State beach volleyball season is canceled in response to the
coronavirus pandemic, kinesiology senior Caitlin Bettenay is still on track to fulfill her dream of playing professional volleyball and competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Growing up in Queensland, Australia, Bettenay said she has always had the goal of participating in the Olympics, but wasn’t sure about coming to the U.S. to play volleyball collegiately.
“My national team coach encouraged it though because of the opportunity to play full-time volleyball
and do full-time studies, which is a unique opportunity and something we don’t really get back home,”
Bettenay said.
She said that in Australia, usually you’re either a full-time athlete or a full-time student, unlike in the U.S. where you can be both.
In 2016, Bettenay enrolled at Portland State University where she played indoor volleyball as a starter.
She was awarded 2016 Big Sky Fall All-Academic Honors and 2017 Big Sky All-Conference First Team in her time at PSU.
“I was the hitter of the conference for my second year. Hitter means best hitter or highest percentage points score in the conference,” Bettenay said.
Her other notable accomplishments include winning a silver medal at the 2016 National Beach Volleyball Championship, representing Australia at the 2017 FIVB U21 World Championships held in Nanjing, China and finishing first at the Bundaberg Major State Tournament in 2018.
After her sophomore season in 2018, Bettenay said she expressed to her coach at PSU that she wanted to play beach volleyball as well, but unfortunately, it wasn’t a possibility to play both indoor and beach.
“There was some interest in signing a beach volleyball team there but it never happened,” Bettenay said. “So I requested for my release so that I could go to a college that would [allow me to] play both beach and indoor volleyball.”
Bettenay said SJSU is one of the only universities in California to offer spots on both indoor and
beach rosters.
“When it comes to beach volleyball she’s at the top of our lineup [and] she could be in a lot of the lineups across the country,” said assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Taylor Gregory. “Like, I
could easily see her on UCLA’s [starting] lineup.”
He said since Bettenay plays on the international volleyball stage, she is extremely well-versed in the sport and is one of the most focused and diligent players he has ever coached.
Advertising senior Kaitlynn Zdroik was Bettenay’s playing partner this season and said she has learned a lot from her time with Bettenay.
“Being Bettenay’s partner has changed me a lot,” Zdroik said. “There’s no doubt she’s going to be successful. She’s just the [select] few that’s going to make it.”
Zdroik said that Bettenay is different than any other partner that she had before because she holds an extremely high volleyball IQ.
“We don’t have to talk about the technical stuff,” Zdroik said. “We can just go to work and that’s what makes her . . . next level.”
Bettenay and Zdroik finished their shortened season with a 7-4 overall record. They won five matches in straight sets and won their final match of the season against Stephen F. Austin State University in straight sets.
Bettenay said that after she finishes her summer classes this year, she wants to move to Spain to play professionally for an approximate 8-to-10 month contract.
“My goal is to sign with a professional team there,” she said. “It’s pretty early in the process right now, but I do have contacts for over there.”
Once the contract is up, Bettenay said she plans to move back to Australia to train full time and get her master’s degree in physiotherapy or biomechanics.
“It’s all in [the] plan to compete for Australia and beach volleyball at the FIVB International level, at the Asian Champs level and then to play in the 2024 Olympics,” Bettenay said.
The Asian Champs level is also known as the Asian Beach Volleyball Championship, an international competition between volleyball players.
“She’s really hungry. She wants to keep playing, especially on the sand and on the international circuit,” Gregory said. “She has some pretty high goals and I think she’s got the drive and the skill to be able to achieve them.”
