There are a variety of club sports offered here at FSU and this week we are putting a special spotlight on the Women’s Club Volleyball team. This club has tryouts, practices twice a week at Tully gym and travels to tournaments in surrounding states. They have traveled to Georgia, Texas and Kentucky within the last year. They hold tryouts to find some of the best players within the college community to put together a competitive team that loves the sport of volleyball.
This past weekend, the girls traveled with their coach Kristen Lee to Kentucky for the National Tournament. Lee works in Florida State’s environmental department. She is a newer addition to the team since she volunteered her expertise last spring semester, and she has proved to be an invaluable asset to the success of this organization. Getting to Nationals was the end goal but the road there was a long one. The 12 girls traveled to Austin, Texas for a qualifying tournament just to get a shot at winning a bid to the big show in Kentucky later in the semester. Passing the competition with flying colors, they got their bid and returned to FSU to practice for one of the most important tournaments of their college careers.
Courtesy: Florida State 24/7
The tournament consisted of great club teams from around the nation. Some of these teams range from NC State to Ball State and Stanford. There were 48 teams within the Division 1AA bracket that the FSU club team was registered in. After winning seven matches during the three-day tournament the girls mentally prepared themselves for the final match against Stanford. The FSU club team took the Stanford club team to three games. They clenched the title in a nail-biter final game where they won 16-14! The girls were ecstatic to see how far their program had come in just three short years. FSU Women’s Club Volleyball is making a mark within the club volleyball world. This was the first year the Noles even attempted qualifying for finals. They conquered that goal and moved onto a bigger one.
Capturing the D1AA title the first year they showed up is absolutely incredible. For girls just learning about this club team, they post their tryout schedule and open gym times at the beginning of each semester on their Facebook page. For the guys who are reading this article, there is also a Men’s Club Volleyball team. They practice twice a week and hold more spots on their roster than the girls do. They have had up to three full teams at one time. They generally play the University of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of South Florida and Miami. To keep up with tryout and open gym information regarding the guys’ team you can check out their Facebook page.
Being a previous member of this organization I am so proud of the success my friends have made and I cannot wait to see what they accomplish within the next year. Go Noles and go Club Volleyball!