The Principia Beach team joined 34 other schools to compete on the sands of Siesta Key, Florida this past weekend. There was a small college division that included NAIA and NCAA Division II scholarship schools, and the only two Division III programs in the country – Principia College and Stevenson University. Principia competed against NCAA D2 Eckerd College, NAIA Warner University, NCAA D3 Stevenson University, and NAIA Missouri Baptist.
The Principia teams were:
Emily Tippetts and
Mia Gill,
Emma Herman and
Sierra Sprague,
Cha Cha Fisher and
Emelie Fredrikson,
Deanna Scheck and Zoe Mahler, and
Makena Patterson and
Jami Wissman.
All of Principia's teams put together solid matches, and definitely battled from start to finish, working their "shot offense" and demanding the grittiest defense they could muster. Each team made fine progress in their ball control and in their ability to take advantage of great opportunities to find open court and score in it. Principia grabbed a match victory with Patterson and Wissman, and the other teams took some sets from their opponents.
Coach Sprague commented, "The opportunity to be a part of Beach Volleyball in its infancy (for D3) is amazing. This weekend gave us (the players and coaches) a compass showing us the next steps for Principia Beach Volleyball. What a great chance to watch the nation's best NCAA D1 schools and to learn from them, as well as competing with some very tough scholarship schools. Principia has 16 committed for next year's Beach team, with the possibility of 18. We can't wait to get after it!"
