(July 19) - Construction on the state-of-the-art sand volleyball courts behind the GSU Sports Arena is progressing on schedule and taking more and more visible court-dimension shape to the naked eye after all the sub-ground preparatory work has been finished.

This week, the crews began pouring the foundation gravel for the first court that will be under the actual sand volleyball court. The first trucks of sand arrived Wednesday on that first upper-level court.

The support wall and seating at the top end has been completed. Concrete has been laid that will then be topped by a boardwalk on the end by the Sports Arena.

The project began in late April and should be completed close to the Labor Day weekend. The only delay came when the crews had to slowly drill out the massive ice storage tanks that had been covered over through the decades.

Georgia State is one of the first universities in the country to field a team in the expanding NCAA sport of sand volleyball that will have around 25 teams competing this spring. The sport's popularity is evidenced at the Summer Olympics with tickets are among the most expensive and highly-sought seats in London.

The Panther sand volleyball team, separate from the court volleyball team that plays indoors in the fall, will begin practicing on the sand courts this fall. Those new players arrive when school starts with the first day of classes on August 20.

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