Eastern Florida State Titans Volleyball Team Opens Season on Saturday

By  //  August 21, 2015

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Head coach Andrea Rasmussen’s charges play Florida State College Jacksonville at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lake-Sumter State College in Leesburg and play the hosts at noon. (EFSC Image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – After 27 practices dating back to the opening session on Aug. 1, a jamboree and a scrimmage, Eastern Florida’s volleyball team plays its first regular-season matches on Saturday.

Head coach Andrea Rasmussen’s charges play Florida State College Jacksonville at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lake-Sumter State College in Leesburg and play the hosts at noon.

The contests kick off a 30-match season Rasmussen hopes concludes with a trip to Pensacola for the Nov. 5-8 NJCAA Region 8/Florida College System Activities Association Tournament.

To accomplish that Eastern Florida must finish in the top two of the five-team Southern Conference which is expected to consist of powerhouse Miami Dade finishing first for the 29th straight time and everyone else vying for runner-up.

The Titans open Southern Conference play at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15 hosting Indian River State College. But before that the Tians face 12 matches that will allow them to work out the kinks.

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The Titans finished 16-16 overall in 2014, 4-4 in the conference, one victory short of an opportunity to qualify for the postseason.

That finish is an impetus for the four returning sophomores: hitters Juliana Torres, Lena Kaelberer and Treasure Ingram and defensive specialist Lindsey Whittington who along with Rasmussen are integrating the eight newcomers into the Titans system and expectations for success.

Andrea Rasmussen
Andrea Rasmussen

“We’ve all worked hard,” Rasmussen said. “I asked a lot of the returnees and the new players in the pre-season and they responded. How well they understand and grasp my definition of success will begin to become evident on Saturday.

“The matches will be the beginning of a lot of high-intensity volleyball that we’ll play this season. We’ll need to be ready.”

The newcomers are sophomores Mariana Dal Pozzo and Brooke Davis and freshmen Megan Graefe, Mariah Menke, Avarie Lewis, Keishla Machado, Myrlena Pagan and Alondra Rivera Modesto.