Volleyball to Participate in Second-Annual Fiesta on Siesta Key
Monday, January 25, 2010 | Volleyball
The Florida volleyball team will participate in the second-annual Fiesta on Siesta Key sand volleyball tournament on April 17, 2010 in Siesta Key, Fla., head coach Mary Wise announced Monday.
Nearly 20 schools in the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, BIG EAST, Atlantic Sun and other leagues already have committed to compete in the event. The Fiesta on Siesta Key was one of the driving forces in the push to add sand volleyball to the NCAA's list of Emerging Sports for Women, beginning in August, 2011.
Schools that have verbally committed to play at the upcoming event include: Alabama, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, Georgia, Jacksonville, Miami, Mississippi State, North Florida, Notre Dame, Nova Southeast University, University of Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Stetson, UCF, USF, Warner Southern and Webber International.
For all of the latest information on Fiesta on Siesta Key, please log on to www.fiestaonsiestakey.com or www.secbeachvolleyball.com. In addition, all of the latest updates involving the Gators' participation in the event will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
“The Fiesta on Siesta Key is clear evidence of the growth and popularity of the sport,” American Volleyball Coaches Association Executive Director Kathy DeBoer said. “It provides good, competitive opportunities for student-athletes in another part of the country.”
Sand volleyball was originally introduced to the collegiate scene by CBS College Sports with the Collegiate Nationals, an event founded by the Network in the spring of 2006. That event is now in its fifth season. The coaches of the Southeastern and Sunshine State Conferences followed with their sand tournaments in the spring of 2008. The popularity of those events, along with others that sprang up around the country, helped lead the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics to recommend in the summer of 2008 that sand volleyball be added to the NCAA's list of Emerging Sports for Women.
At the 2010 NCAA Convention in Atlanta, an override attempt was defeated and the date of the proposal for sand volleyball becomes effective in August 2011.
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