Preps: Ready for some outdoor volleyball? (It's not on a beach.)

Prep volleyball. Al fresco.

This is the plan next Tuesday night, when the varsity squads from La Cueva and Albuquerque Academy are scheduled to play an outdoor match on the Academy campus.

It is believed to be the first of its kind in New Mexico.

“An opportunity to be under the spotlight — so to speak,” Bears coach Steve Archibeque said.

Other states, he said, have held similar outdoor matches, and felt “why don’t we do it here in New Mexico?”

His original idea was to stage a pair of games at Nusenda Community Stadium, with four Albuquerque Public Schools programs taking part. That idea was grounded.

The idea was subsequently pared down. La Cueva had a schedule opening, Academy had a schedule opening, and this unique notion was hatched and the match was made.

A court, costing about $3,000 for La Cueva to have brought in from outside the state, will be placed on one of the grass fields just north of the Academy’s Richard A. Harper Memorial Stadium. It will be similar in nature to the type of courts used during the state tournament at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

The Bears and Chargers are scheduled to play at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday. Already this season, states like New York and Ohio have staged an outdoor high school match. The inspiration was drawn by the 92,000-plus fans who attended a University of Nebraska outdoor match at the school’s football stadium two years ago.

If there are any weather-related issues next week, the teams will move the match indoors into the Academy gymnasium.

As for the lights, Academy has been using temporary lights for other varsity events already this month: a football game against Hope Christian, a boys soccer game Tuesday night against St. Pius, and a girls soccer game later this month against Albuquerque High.

“We’re super excited,” Archibeque said. It's already been an adventurous season for La Cueva, which spent a few days in Florida for a tournament, and last weekend won the Albuquerque Metro Championships.

Both La Cueva in Class 5A and Academy in 4A are ranked second in the state according to the newest coaches’ polls which were released on Tuesday.

While there will be some temporary seating, fans are being asked to bring their own chairs for optimum comfort. There will not be an entrance fee.