MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – For all the fanfare and excitement that comes along with the opening of a new season – there's still the business of the actual games to tend to.
Florida Memorial University broke the seal on its beach volleyball season, but couldn't earn their first victory – falling to Southeastern University 3-2 on what was a breezy Friday afternoon at the St. Thomas University beach volleyball courts.
Unlike it's indoor counterpart, beach volleyball is played with only two players on the court at a time for each team. Each team will have five different pairs that compete in matches. Each tandem will play a best two-out-of-three match. The first two sets will go to 21 points with the potential third match going to 15 points. In order for a team to win the overall match, at least three of its pairs must win their head-to-head matches.
FMU junior
Rachele Mancinelli and freshman Augustina Busque were the first pair to take down Southeastern in three sets. After the first lost set, Busque and Mancinelli rallied back and took the second set 21-19. The tiebreaking set was a back-and-forth contest, until Florida Memorial was able to earn a 17-15 win, giving FMU its first win of the day.
The Puerto Rican duo of juniors
Alanis Santana and
Francheska Rivera, followed the footsteps of Mancinelli and Busque, earning their match victory in a similar manner – losing the first set, winning the second, and taking a hard-fought third set.
Unfortunately, none of the other Lions pairs managed to win their matches, which lead to Southeastern taking home the victory.
Florida Memorial head coach Marrita Crocket-Moulton said she was proud of her team regardless of the outcome, and that they need to keep working hard because they still have a lot more games to show who they really are.
The Lady Lions won't have much time to recharge their batteries, as they will be face Ave Maria University Saturday (Feb. 22) morning at 11 a.m. back at St. Thomas University.
