DeLand, Fla. – Two major home tournaments including one featuring several national contenders highlight the 2016 Stetson University beach volleyball schedule, which was released on Monday.
Stetson, the two-time defending Atlantic Sun Conference Champions, will open the season March 4-6 by hosting the Stetson Spring Break tournament. Carson Newman, the College of Charleston, Eckerd, Spring Hill, and UNCW will join Stetson for the three-day event.
Stetson will travel to Baton Rouge, La. March 11-12 for a tournament hosted by LSU.
The Hatters will host three straight Atlantic Sun doubleheaders against FGCU (March 18), Jacksonville (March 19), and UNF (March 23). Stetson went a perfect 8-0 in the regular season against A-Sun opponents last year.
On March 25-26, the Hatters will host some of the top teams in the nation for its second home tournament. Hawaii (No. 4 in the final DiG Magazine Top 20 poll), Florida International (No. 5), Stetson (No. 6), Florida State (No. 7), UCLA (No. 10), and Florida Atlantic will compete at the Stetson Beach Volleyball complex during the two-day event.
“We are very excited about being able to host some of the top schools in the country at our home this season,” Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez said. “It is going to be some of the best east coast schools and some of the best in the west. It is great for our program and university to be able to host such a stellar event on our campus. It is going to be a great weekend of highly competitive matches.”
The Hatters will compete at FIU's tournament on April 1-2 before finishing A-Sun competition at Mercer on April 5. The annual Fiesta on Siesta Key event will take place April 9-10.
The Atlantic Sun Conference Championship will be contested at the new LakePoint Sport Community Sand Volleyball Complex in Cartersville, Ga. April 22-24. The first-ever NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships will be held May 6-8 in Gulf Shores, Ala.
In 2015, the Hatters won a school-record 22 matches, claimed the Atlantic Sun regular season and conference championship, and finished the season ranked sixth nationally in both the AVCA Coaches Poll and DiG Magazine Top 20 Poll. Hernandez returns for her third season as head coach.
Big Time Tournament
The home tournament on March 25-26 features four of the eight teams that participated in last year's AVCA Championship - Hawaii, FIU, FSU and Stetson.
Atlantic Sun Expansion
The Atlantic Sun Conference announced Coastal Carolina University as its newest affiliate member for beach volleyball, expanding the league to six programs beginning for the 2016 season. The Chanticleers will participate in the 2016 A-Sun Beach Volleyball Championship and will begin regular season play in 2017.
NCAA Championship
The format for the first-ever NCAA Championship will be similar to that of the past AVCA Championships, with eight teams competing in a double-elimination bracket for the national title. Selection information is not yet available, although it is unlikely the Atlantic Sun champion will receive an automatic bid.
