AUBURN, Ala. — The stakes were higher than merely winning a championship.

For Kourtney Rhoads and the United States women's beach handball team, returning from Trinidad with a NorCa title was paramount.

“For USA beach handball to come out and win it, it was a really, really good feeling,” said Rhoads, a Slippery Rock High graduate and former standout basketball player for the Rockets. “We proved USA beach handball belongs.”

Rhoads also proved she belonged.

Rhoads, who will turn 28 in August, joined the U.S. women's national handball team in October of last year, joining her older sister, Jence.

Her sister, who joined the national team in 2014, was the main reason why Rhoads decided to give handball a go after starring as a guard for the women's basketball team at Kentucky Wesleyan College.

In Kentucky, she played with her twin sister, Karly.

Now in handball, she gets to play with Jence again after spending one year in high school as teammates on the Slippery Rock girls basketball team.

“I get to play with my big sister again,” Rhoads said. “It's been great taking this journey with her and learning from her again.”

In February, a new opportunity presented itself in the sport for Rhoads.

She latched on to the beach handball team and found an instant home in a relatively new offshoot of the game.

“The beach game came more naturally to me,” Kourtney Rhoads said. “Defense is more natural and more like basketball.”

Rhoads is a defensive player in the beach version of the sport that is heavily skewed toward offense.

The game is played with the offensive team having a 4-3 advantage on every possession. One point is awarded for a standard goal. Two points are awarded for more difficult and flashier goals, such as 360-degree shots and alley-oops.

Each team has a goalie and a specialist. If either of those players scores a goal, no matter the style, two points is awarded.

“It is very different. And it's very challenging to play defense in beach handball,” Rhoads said, chuckling. “The game rewards flare and flashiness. When people watch it for the first time, they say, 'This game is awesome.'

“I actually really like playing defense,” Rhoads added of playing a position in a game that actually frowns upon strong defensive play. “It's kind of expected that the offense is going to score, so when you make a defensive stop or get a block, it's really exhilarating.”

Rhoads is better than most at defense.

She was one of the reasons why the U.S. team cruised through the NorCa tournament without a loss in six games without losing a set.

The U.S. women swept Mexico in the final, winning the first set 16-12 and the second set 17-16.

The U.S. men's team also won the title.

“We were expecting to play well and we were confident we could do as well as we did,” Rhoads said. “It was really exciting to win it the way we did.”

The victory at NorCa qualified the U.S. team for the international beach handball world championships in 2020.

In October, the U.S. team will compete at the World Beach Games in Qatar.

It's another opportunity for the team to cement its place in a burgeoning and growing sport.

“I'm just very, very grateful,” said Rhoads, who works as a health coach. “I've very happy I get to do something like this.”