SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah has decided to drop beach volleyball as a varsity sport after eight years in part because of conference realignment. Utah introduced beach volleyball — an Olympic sport since 1996 — in 2017, when the Utes competed in the Pac-12 Conference. The Pac-12 had nine beach volleyball programs at the time but most of those schools have since left for the Big Ten, ACC and Big 12. Utah is now in the Big 12, which has just three other beach volleyball programs and no automatic qualifying spot for the NCAA Tournament for its league champion. “This was an extremely difficult decision,” athletics director Mark Harlan said this week. “We looked at the landscape of intercollegiate beach volleyball and the future opportunities of our student-athletes.” Calling beach volleyball’s growth at the college level “stunted,” Harlan noted that just 12 power conference schools sponsor such teams “with little evidence of the sport expanding at this time.” Harlan said the Utah athletic department would “work closely with each of our impacted student-athletes to provide them with all of the support they need” and honor the scholarships of those who decide to complete their education at Utah. “Should a