Beach Volleyball Looks to Youth and Depth for Success in 2022

LAKELAND, Fla.- The Southeastern University beach volleyball team is set to soon hit the sand to compete in the 2022 season. Loaded with a plethora of young talent, the Fire look to make a statement in the Sun Conference and garner attention on the national scale.
 
SEU looks to bounce back from a 1-5 2021 beach campaign. The Fire return a total of five individuals from last beach season and will feature 11 newcomers. However, all 16 individuals on this year's SEU beach team were a part of the indoor program in the fall.
 
"Having 16 returning from the fall we have a strong foundation of unity and team work as well as accountability so that will aid in strength of the program," shared SEU head coach Audrey Goldsberry.
 
During the indoor season, Fire volleyball went 21-14 for the program's fourth 20-win season in the last five years and appeared in The Sun Conference Tournament Quarterfinals.
 
This season on the sand, the Fire will be without their top line pairing from last year in Katie Chillura and Courtney Krause, who went 5-1 in 2021.
 
All the 10 Fire newcomers this season are freshman who will be competing in their first season of collegiate beach volleyball.
 
Leading the way for the fresh SEU faces will be Sandy Cao, who was both the Sun Conference Freshman and Player of the Year, as well as an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American during the indoor season for the Fire. In 32 matches Cao racked up 469 kills, a .282 hitting percentage, 360 digs, and 39 aces.
 
Throughout the last few years, Cao has played in multiple beach tournaments in both women's open and women's AA, winning first place in multiple tournaments. She trained at BeVolley Academy under Raquel Feirra and Paula Roca.

Also bringing depth to the Fire beach unit will be freshman Sylvia Liszewski, who was a four-year starter in the beach program at Cardinal Mooney High School. Lizewski competed in the state tournament for three of those four seasons at Cardinal Mooney.
 
"With our youth at the collegiate level, it will be important for the girls to be focused at training and in execution to compete with more experienced teams," added Coach Goldsberry.
 
The Fire open the 2022 season on the campus of St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens this morning with a doubleheader against the Florida Memorial University Lions at 9:00 a.m. and a matchup with the St. Thomas Bobcats to follow at approximately 11:00 a.m.