Allie O’Connor
As spring nears in the sunshine state, the first ever season of Beach Volleyball will begin at Florida Southern College.
After much construction and long-waited urgency to see the women in action, the team has new sand courts, dedicated to Joe and Judy P. Ruthven, to practice on.
Being the brand new team on campus, The Beach Mocs will feel the pressure with the oncoming season, hoping to gain the name of NCAA champions.
Hyrum Keime coaches the fresh, new team that is compiled of mostly freshmen and sophomores, with a couple upperclassmen.
With these ages, the team will have an new edge on the game, but may have a lack of experience within the conference compared to teams that have had the sport on their campus longer than the Mocs.
Casey Slezack, a freshman from Naperville, Ill., gave an insight on she thinks the team will
do this season.
“I think this season will be a time for growth,” Slezack said. “Overall it’ll be really fun and eventful.”
Being the first group of women to play this sport at Florida Southern, the players have really become a team through practice in the fall semester.
“I think we’ll perform at a really high level,” Slezack said. “We scrimmaged University of Tampa last fall and played well against them, and that was missing half the talented players we have now.”
The Mocs’ first perspective game is set for Fri. March 2, in St. Petersburg, with their first home game planned for Sat. March 17.
With the season fast approaching, the team is practicing hard and getting ready to have a great season.
Check out the game schedule to support the Mocs this upcoming season.