Women's Beach Volleyball 2/19/2021 3:30:00 PM J.T. Wilcox, Sports Information Director

FMU Opens Beach Volleyball Season With Tri-Duel Saturday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (0-0) at Southeastern University Fire (0-0)
FMU Lions at St. Thomas University Bobcats (0-0)
When: Saturday, February 20, 2021
Where: St. Thomas University, Miami Gardens, Fla. | STU Beach Courts
First Serve: vs. Southeastern 9:30 a.m. | vs. St. Thomas 1:30 a.m.
Last Meeting: Feb. 21, 2020 vs. Southeastern, Loss 2-3
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: NONE

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University will open its beach volleyball season Saturday, participating in a tri-duel at St. Thomas University.

The Lady Lions, voted the preseason No. 1 team in The Sun Conference and favorite to win the conference title this year, will take on Southeastern University at 9:30 a.m. and will face the host Bobcats at 1:30 p.m. on STU's Sand Beach Volleyball Courts.

Per St. Thomas COVID-19 fan protocols, no visiting fans will be permitted to attend the matches. However, an online live stream of all the matches in the tri-duel will be available for fans.

Saturday, which will be one of the busiest days in FMU Athletics history with five different teams in action, will mark the beginning of the second official beach volleyball season for Florida Memorial. The Lions opened play in their first official season almost exactly a year ago but had the 2020 season cut short due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic after just eight of the 18 scheduled matches.

Returning to the sand this season is a talented and experienced FMU team. While the beach volleyball program operates separate from FMU's women's indoor volleyball program, many of the players that played on Florida Memorial's indoor volleyball team – which made history in 2019 by winning the Sun Conference championship and reaching the NAIA National Tournament – will also play beach volleyball.

Adriana Soto and Agustina Busque will serve as the Lions' No. 1 pair in most matches this season and was tabbed as one of the Sun Conference preseason pairs to watch.

Unlike indoor volleyball, beach volleyball is played with only two players on the court at a time for each team. Each team will have five different pairs 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.

Head coach Marrita Crockett-Moulton, a 10-year beach volleyball veteran herself and the daughter of Rita Crockett – the first African American woman to win a beach volleyball world championship, also brought in handful of beach-only players to buoy her roster this season.

Freshman Olivia Dodd has the talent to potentially garner conference attention by the season's end while indoor players Sammyra Albarran, Alanis Santana, and Biancaliz Cruz should see a substantial jump in performance as this year will be their second season in the sand.

Follow Florida Memorial University Athletics on social media
Instagram: @GoFMULions/@FMULionsVolleyball | Twitter: @GoFMULions | YouTube: Official FMU Lions

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Players Mentioned

#25 Sammyra Albarran: B; 5' 8"; Senior

#4 Alanis Santana: D; 5' 5"; Senior

#1 Adriana Soto: B; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#23 Biancaliz Cruz: B; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#3 Agustina Busque: D; 5' 5"; Sophomore

#22 Olivia Dodd: D; 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#25 Sammyra Albarran
: 5' 8"; Senior
: B

#4 Alanis Santana
: 5' 5"; Senior
: D

#1 Adriana Soto
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: B

#23 Biancaliz Cruz
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: B

#3 Agustina Busque
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: D

#22 Olivia Dodd
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: D

Florida Memorial University Athletics

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned