PREVIEW: Lakehawk Beach Volleyball Preps for State Tournament

Beach Volleyball Championship Page

BRADENTON, Fla. (Beach Volleyball) – The Lake-Sumter State College (LSSC) beach volleyball team travels to Bradenton, Fla. for the inaugural Florida College System Activities Association / National Junior College Athletic Association (FCSAA/NJCAA) Region 8 beach volleyball championship beginning on Friday, March 31. The tournament is hosted by State College of Florida (SCF) at UMR Sports Complex in Bradenton, Fla.

The tournament is set up in double elimination format beginning Friday morning going through Saturday afternoon with the championship match set for 1:30 p.m. The Lakehawks enter the tournament as the second seed after Palm Beach State College.

Lake-Sumter will play the third seeded St. Johns River State College (SJRSC) on Friday at 2:00 p.m. after the Palm Beach State and SCF.

In regular season, Lake-Sumter and SJRSC split in conference play. SJRSC took the first match up in early February 3-2 and Lake-Sumter took their second matchup most recently 4-1.

The number one seeded Palm Beach State enters the tournament undefeated in conference play. In two matchups, the Lakehawks fell to the Panthers twice, 5-0 and 4-1.

The tournament will kick off Friday morning with all-state awards. There will be five all-state pairs, 10 all-state individuals, five first team and five second team, one Pair of the Year and one Player of the Year.

The first and second place teams will receive automatic bids to the 2023 NJCAA Beach Volleyball Championship at Hickory Point Beach in Tavares, Fla. from April 20-22. In addition to the two automatic bids, there are three at-large bids left to fill the twelve spots in the tournament.

Up next for the Lakehawks

The Lakehawks will face SJRSC to kick off the 2023 FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Beach Volleyball Championship at 2:00 p.m. at UMR Sports Complex. Matches can be accessed through the FCSAA Digital Network here.

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