Collegiate sand volleyball may not be played at the Division I level until next year, but Whitney Pavlik’s decision on where to attend college played a critical role in sparking a promising pro beach career. Actually, it was her second college.

Fresh out of high school, Pavlik left her Laguna Beach roots to enroll at option No. 1, the University of Montana.

“I’m not a big city girl but I love the mountains,” says the 6’0” 26-year-old, noting coaches’ permission to snowboard helped persuade her. “That was a big plus in my mind because I wanted to stay close to the beach and surf, or be able to snowboard.”

After two years of substantial snow and little sun, however, she transferred to UC Irvine.

Pavlik says returning to Southern California made her future in beach volleyball more realistic. The area’s proximity to the Pacific coastline is obvious; also worth consideration is Pavlik’s adolescent exposure to the beach game after taking up indoor at age 12. She recalls dads from her neighborhood playing pickup sand games and, by the time she was 14, letting her in on the action.

“That got me going with it and really made it a lot of fun,” she says. “Instead of going every day to club practice, I got to mix it up a little bit.”

Mixing it up paid dividends following a First-Team All-Big West career for the Anteaters that saw Pavlik set a school record for hitting percentage in a match and compile the third-best single-season hitting percentage in UC Irvine history.  The year after she graduated, Pavlik teamed up with fellow former Anteater Kelly Wing to give pro beach volleyball a shot—as Pavlik says, “just to see if we liked it or not.”

Initially, there wasn’t much to like. Pavlik and Wing spent more time in qualifiers than in the main draw in 2007 and didn’t finish better than 17th in 13 AVP tournaments, leading to what Pavlik considers her biggest obstacle to this point.

“Just really breaking in past the qualifier, learning to play and push, you can’t just expect it to be handed to you,” she says. “You have to work your butt off and then it will happen for you.”

If it didn’t happen for her in 2008, Pavlik probably wouldn’t be playing anymore.

“It’s not easy doing all the qualifiers and traveling, especially when you try to do part-time jobs,” she says, mentioning thoughts of ending her playing career to become a college assistant coach.

A career-best fifth-place finish and nine ninth-place finishes later, Pavlik had been voted Rookie of the Year by her competitors. She had a future on the beach, indeed.

“Getting top-10 finishes made me enjoy it more,” she says of her 2008 experience. “Getting Rookie of the Year was awesome. It just means so much more because we all vote for who we think should deserve it.”

Pavlik improved her ranking by two spots, to 24th, with seven more top-10 finishes last season. Still, with her desire to win she describes 2009 as “a learning year.” She says she discovered “just how much effort is needed, and the training you’re gonna have to do.”

Finishing the season alongside veteran Nancy Mason further educated Pavlik.

“That was my first time playing with somebody who knows the game so well and teaches you so much while you’re passing right next to her,” Pavlik says. “She has so much information and wisdom to bring to the game.”

Together, Pavlik and Mason brought enough to the game to upset Rachel Wacholder and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh at the Tournament of Champions in Mason, Ohio, last September. Pavlik, whose parents were on hand to witness the match, calls it her greatest accomplishment. “When Nancy and I beat Kerri and Rachel, that was a pretty good feeling,” she says, tongue in cheek.

Pavlik, though, expects to have a new achievement to call her greatest before too long.

“I definitely want to have some wins,” she says. “Not just top-five, top-three finishes—I want to win some tournaments.”

Mason could play a more prominent role in helping her get there, as she will coach Pavlik and new partner Jen Fopma in 2010. Pavlik thinks Mason’s sterling knowledge of the sport will translate to her performance.

“It’s gonna make a huge change in our game this season,” she says of having a coach to modify details such as certain ways of defending opponents. “We’re just gonna do it, and that’s gonna make the difference—the little things.”

Bigger things, such as international experience, could also push Pavlik toward her ultimate goal. After playing in Barcelona with Fopma last September, Pavlik says playing in more events overseas is “a very big possibility.”

Pavlik says she and Fopma are longtime friends with a shared vision.

“We want to grow together as a team,” she says. “We’ve talked a lot, we both have the same goals, our training is the same, we want to practice as much as possible. We know we need to put in a lot of work and effort and time to get to those finals and win. That’s the goal, to win those tournaments.”

Preparing for the season, Pavlik and Fopma practice their game three days a week and work out with a strength coach twice a week. They have also picked up yoga together—“we’re basically trying as much as possible to get us ready,” Pavlik says.

It may sound like all work and no play, but Pavlik isn’t completely removed from another passion of hers.

“I love to travel with friends and family and go snowboarding,” she says, fondly remembering a recent snowboarding trip to Sun Valley, Idaho, with her sister, engaged AVP stars Brad Keenan and April Ross, and Ross’ sister. “We had the best time.”

With her sights set on a couple wins, Pavlik’s best time on the beach may be ahead of her.