By Terry Monahan From The Sun Diego Union-Tribune

For Marissa Harrison, the beach has become her portal to the world.

Born on the Cayman Islands, Harrison, who will be a junior at Poway High in the fall, now travels to distant countries to continue her career in beach volleyball.

She leaves Friday for the island of Gotland, Sweden, to participate in the Island Games as a member of the Cayman Islands team. Her competition begins Saturday and runs through Tuesday. Other sports during the Games continue on through July 2.

“I have no idea what will happen over there,’’ she said.

Afterward, the Harrison family will spend some vacation time in Paris on the way home. Just fun, no volleyball.

Harrison began playing indoor volleyball, but not long after the family moved to Poway in 2010 – when she was 9 – she found her way to the beach courts.

And she never left.

“I may have started indoors, but I grew up on the beach in California,’’ said the 5-foot-8 Harrison. “I loved it from the first moment I played.

“The wind, the sun and the heat are all things a beach player has to deal with and understand. It all came naturally to me.

“I love the sand. I hate sunscreen because it can run into your eyes while you play.’’

Watch any beach volleyball and you’ll see shots that a player would score a point on a few minutes ago but now sails off out of bounds.

“Sometimes, it gets frustrating,’’ Harrison said. “You have to keep telling yourself the other two players are trying to figure out the same thing.’’

While she played indoors, Harrison’s height limited her contribution. She was strictly a back row player.

On the beach, each player – no matter which one is taller or shorter – must be flexible enough to play defense, dig shots, set, smash shots over the net and block.

“You have to be able to do it all, not just one thing like I did playing indoors,’’ Harrison said. “I appreciate the time I spent indoors, but playing on the beach made me grow up as a person.

“As good an experience as it was indoors, I’d choose beach any day of the week.’’

Harrison, who was born on the Cayman Islands, as was her mother Shered, has represented the Cayman Islands for the last two years in the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Continental Tour.

Last year Harrison and partner Stefania Gandolfi wound up in ninth place, going 2-3 in their five matches. The pair beat Trinidad and Costa Rica while losing to the United States, Canada 1 and Canada 2.

“We were pretty happy with that,’’ said Harrison, who is an American citizen because her dad Guy grew up in Florida. “We played against a few Olympians too.’’

The problem is whenever Harrison plays for her native country, she does so with a different partner each time.

“It’s really difficult to play with someone you’ve seen play but never played with before,’’ said Harrison, who was a gymnast as well as a soccer player before she found beach volleyball. “There are a few times where we both look at each other as if to say, ‘I thought you had that.’’’

The Harrisons moved to Poway in order to provide Marissa and her brother Jared, who is 19, with a better opportunity in school and on the beach.

When she graduates in 2019, she will play next at Florida State.

“When you live on the island like we did, you just go to the beach,’’ Harrison said. “After a while going to the beach is not that big a deal.

“I was actually excited to move.’’

As long as it was somewhere near the beach, like Poway.

IMAGE: Marissa Harrison has represented the Cayman Islands for the last two years in the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Continental Tour. (Courtesy photo)

For more on this story go to: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/pomerado-news/sports/sd-life-beach-poway-volleyball-player-20170621-story.html