Incoming Florida Volleyball Freshmen Win National Titles
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 | Volleyball
Four incoming University of Florida volleyball freshmen won national championships with their respective club teams Monday at the USA Volleyball Junior Nationals in Dallas and the Junior Volleyball Director's Championship in Louisville.
Kelly Murphy (Joliet, Ill.) and Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.) won the Junior Volleyball Director's Championship at the Kentucky Exposition Center as members of the Mizuno Sports Performance Volleyball Elite of Illinois. Sports Performance captured the championship with a 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 26-24) win against Asics Munciana Samurai.
Murphy and Ward's Sports Performance team went an impressive 84-0, never losing a match since the team was assembled when its members were 16 years of age. The duo earned AAU All-American honors earlier this month after Murphy and Ward helped their team capture the AAU 18-and-under open national championship at Disney's Wide World of Sports.
Incoming freshman middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.) and her TCA team from California captured the 18 Open Division of the USA Volleyball Junior Nationals with a five-game victory against the Imi Ike 18s.
Middle blocker Betsy Smith (Atlanta) and her A5 Mizuno team from Roswell, Ga., won the 18 National Division of the USA Volleyball Junior Nationals with a 2-1 (22-25, 25-20, 15-12) win against the Amarillo Elite in the finals.
Each of Florida's six incoming freshmen for the 2008 season, including Cindy Bathelt (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Elissa Hausmann (Tampa, Fla.), were in action this past weekend in the two events.
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