Melissa Duffield finds her oasis in Cedar Rapids

Monterey and Hermosa Beach are in California and will host USA Volleyball Beach High Performance zone championships this month.

Beach volleyball and California makes a lot of sense, like sun and tans.

But beach volleyball and Cedar Rapids? Iowa?

You bet.

The recently opened Oasis Sandbar in northeast Cedar Rapids will host the Central Zone Championships, starting with a training camp Monday and Tuesday and ending with pool play on Wednesday, quarterfinals Thursday and finals Friday. This is a qualifier for the HP National Championships in the aforementioned Hermosa Beach, Calif., at the end of July.

'It's our hope to host many more for USA Volleyball,' said Oasis co-owner and co-director Melissa 'Mo' Duffield.

Duffield is a big reason a USA Volleyball-sanctioned event is in Cedar Rapids. Talk to her for 10 minutes and you're ready to dig, set and spike. She and GO Cedar Rapids convinced USA Volleyball to hold its event here long before the facility was built. It's actually still a work in progress, with 15 of the eventual 27 outdoor courts in 'pristine' condition.

'We're still bringing in sand,' she said.

To say Duffield has a passion for volleyball is like saying Dan Gable enjoys wrestling.

Duffield was an all-state high school player at Cedar Rapids Jefferson who was told she couldn't play Division I volleyball. She went to Iowa State and started as freshman. She eventually transferred to Iowa after the Cyclones went through a couple of coaching changes. She ended up injuring her shoulder and thought her playing days we over.

After a few years in the coaching ranks, some of her athletes convinced her to see if she had any eligibility left. She petitioned the NCAA, which agreed to give her another year as long as it was at a Division II school since she was 26 years old and worked on her master's degree.

She landed in Fort Myers, Fla., and not only earned a varsity position, but started for Florida Gulf Coast and helped the Eagles earn a Sweet 16 NCAA D-II berth.

She played in Europe and later returned to coaching, landing the head coaching position at the University of Mary. She ended up getting fired, but is suing the school for gender bias.

This is from an Associated Press story a year ago:

In her lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, Duffield says she was first suspended during the 2014 season 'because she gave a stern talking' to some athletes who were underperforming. She says male coaches who use abusive language toward players or bench players who are not performing up to their capabilities do not face similar discipline.

'The University of Mary has a different standard for male coaches than female coaches,' the lawsuit says.

Sound familiar? The case still is pending, but she has the same lawyers who just won a case for Jane Meyer against the University of Iowa.

All of that, Duffield said, has led to where she is now and she wouldn't change a thing.

'It's not easy,' she said. 'I wouldn't even change it to stay at the same school and be a four-time All-American ... it doesn't give you a perspective.'

Oasis Sandbar, she hopes, will be her, well, oasis. And she wants the same for every athlete who walks through the door.

'We're not going to tell you no,' she said.

The facility is connected with Twisters Gymnastics — and co-owned by Twisters owner John Mangold — and eventually will offer soccer and indoor volleyball, as well.

'It's a big project, for sure,' Duffield said. 'But everybody sees the vision.

'We've had some red tape, but we're rocking and rolling.'

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