Following an All-American career at the University of Minnesota, and a stint of three years playing on the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team, Nicole Branagh moved her game outside to the beach, where she has been on the AVP Tour since 2004. You might also know her as one of four women who represented Team USA in beach volleyball in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

However you know her, know this: Branagh has now earned over three-quarters of a million dollars playing professional beach volleyball, and has solidifi ed herself as one of the top beach players in the world. Branagh, who will team with gold medalist Misty May-Treanor in 2010, sat down with Phenom during the 2009 AVP Crocs Tour Tournament of Champions to discuss her transition to playing beach volleyball, and how the emergence of Sand Volleyball as an NCAA sport will affect the game.

You played collegiately at the University of Minnesota, and now you’re one of the top players internationally on the beach. How did you go from one place to the other?

Well, a lot of hard work. I had a great a career at Minnesota and a really good experience, and I think Mike Hebert has done a great job there and I think with players, he really encourages people to look to the “next thing.” I never played on any of the junior USA teams or anything like that until I got to college, and he encouraged me to try out for the World University Games team, and so that’s how I started with National Team.

He is great at pushing people to be their best and to reach their potential, and you see that in a lot of people, and he always saw that in me.

Did you play for the National Team right after you fi nished playing at Minnesota?

Yes, after my senior season fi nished I left and I joined the team. I also played overseas in Italy and Japan. I was only playing indoor then. After the end of 2003 I went back to Italy, and then that next summer I decided that I wanted to do something different; I think I had been playing indoor for so long, and I needed to change it up. I didn’t know what I was going to do; I was encouraged to come down to L.A., and come play beach… but I’m like okay, yeah, it will be fun, and I can go back to Italy and play indoor and then it’d be a great way to stay in shape. So I did, and after I went back to indoor I just missed the beach a lot. It was something new, it was Exciting, it was still what I knew, but it was still challenging to see how I could do.

Did you ever think that you would end up as a professional beach volleyball player when you were playing volleyball?

I did not but my mom did. My mom, she always envisioned me moving down to L.A., because I like the lifestyle, I’m pretty laid back. So she has always said, “I always see you in L.A. playing beach.” I never thought about it.

Did you not think about it because there wasn’t an opportunity?

I didn’t have an opportunity, no. Growing up in Northern California, I never even knew about these players. Yes, they had a tournament in Santa Cruz, but, yeah, there weren’t any opportunities.

Do you think beach volleyball is a different sport than indoor volleyball, and how are they different?

It’s defi nitely different. You’re dealing with the elements… and, you only have one other person.

For me, I loved playing indoor, but on the beach, I love it because it enables me to be a lot more athletic. E.Y. (Former Olympic and AVP partner Elaine Youngs) and I are both very athletic people, and you only have one person, so you have to do everything, you have to do every skill, and that transfers, obviously, from the indoor game.

It’s the same skills, it’s just different strategies.

There are differences, and it takes time. After I stopped indoor, the reason that I stopped is that I needed to train on the beach, I needed to really see and develop those skills and take time.

I had a great opportunity with Holly McPeak to do that, she asked me to play with her, and you can’t say no to that!

How long before it felt like you were a “good” beach player?

Holly and I had a good year, and I learned a lot… After the fi rst year with Holly, I guess at the end of the year I started to get more confi dence, we started winning more. Teaming up with E.Y. the next year, we won a couple of tournaments, and so this year (2009 AVP Tour) I’m not getting served as much… I mean you want to get served, but you want to prove yourself, and so the last couple years I’ve been feeling good.

Do you think it would be good for the sport of beach volleyball professionally and internationally if people started playing when they’re 14?

It would really provide a lot of opportunities for players to be stronger. I’m 30, and I just started playing in 2004 (at 25 yrs old), and I started from the bottom. I wasn’t a player that came out here and just because I was on the National Team or I was a great college player, that someone just thought, “Oh, she’s going to be great.” No way! I know that I wouldn’t be so willing to take a chance on a new player, even if it’s the best player in college. You’ve got to get out there and train, and it takes a while, and so I think it would be great, I think it would make the whole beach side of volleyball stronger (if girls started playing the game at a younger age).

Do you think the addition of Sand Volleyball as a collegiate sport will improve the indoor game?

I think so. You’re jumping in the sand, then you go from the sand to the hardwood fl oor; that’s got to help your vertical. I haven’t played indoor in a while, but I don’t think that it takes away anything.