MONROE,
La.
- The ULM sand volleyball squad begins competition Saturday at the Ron Jon Surf
Shop Beach 'n Boards Fest in Cocoa Beach, Fla., against North Florida and Jacksonville.
The festival concludes Sunday with ULM entertaining Stetson and Webber.
It is the first ever sand volleyball competition for the
school.
"It's exciting to be a part
of ULM's inaugural NCAA sand competition in Cocoa Beach this weekend. That
being said, I'm trying to keep myself and my teams in check by thinking of it as
just another tournament. Competition is exciting enough and sports are largely
about nerves-we're looking at this weekend like it's just another one on the
schedule. We hope to compete at a high level," head sand volleyball coach David Fischer said.
Sand volleyball is considered an emerging sport. There
are 30 teams participating this year and most schools compete in regions
established by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA). There is
one conference sponsoring sand volleyball in 2013-the Atlantic Sun.
ULM is in the southeast region along with Florida State, College
of Charleston, Stetson, Jacksonville, North Florida, UAB, Tulane, Mercer,
Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia State, FIU and Coastal Carolina.
Fischer expects the Warhawks to compete at a high level.
"With so many new programs
and teams, our goals for this season have more to do with our side of the net
than with how we compare. I hope to be one of the two east coast schools chosen
to attend the AVCA championships in Alabama," he said.
Indoor players Tetiana
Sukach, Zuzana Markova, Iren Marinova, Katie Harrington, Alannah Cullum, Maria Garcia, Marcela Araya
and Blanca Ocana will all see time
on the sand this year. They are joined by sand-only players Amy Grabiec and Michelle McNamee.
Markova and Sukach are expected to be the top pair but
the other spots are up for grabs, according to Fischer.
"We're going to have several
different pairings this weekend. When one team has a change, other players will
"slide up," creating several new teams. Fortunately, all our players practice
with each other so that we're flexible and on the same page," he said. "We've got a lot of parity which
is great."
Ultimately, Fischer has one goal for the Warhawks.
"We hope to put ULM squarely on the radar of
sand volleyball coaches, teams and players around the country," he said.
