April 14, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame volleyball program will play host to the Midwest Collegiate Sand Challenge this weekend, a 20-team tournament to be played at Mishawaka’s Outpost Sports.
The event will be held this Saturday (April 16), beginning at 10:00 a.m. (ET) and spanning into the evening hours.
Twenty teams – including regional squads such as Valparaiso, Grace College, IUPUI and Lewis University – are set to participate in pool play, followed by a single-elimination tournament.
Notre Dame displayed its success in the sand by capturing the 2009 Collegiate Beach Volleyball Challenge at Fiesta On Siesta Key. Rising seniors Frenchy Silva and Kristen Dealy were a part of that title run.
This spring’s event coincides with a national movement as sand volleyball inches closer to becoming an NCAA sanctioned sport. In fact, the NCAA Division I Legislative Council added sand volleyball to the list of emerging sports for women, clearing the way for schools to use the sport toward minimum sponsorship requirements and minimum financial aid awards. The sport is expected to create additional athletics opportunities for female student-athletes.
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