The FIU beach volleyball team is now only 10 weeks away from the start of the 2016 regular season. Each week leading up to the season opener on March 4, a different beach player will be featured in this weekly series. This week, Sand Panthers celebrates the holidays with freshman Lina Bernier.
 
The outstanding freshman comes from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was one of the top recruits last year for beach volleyball. Her excellence on the court and in the classroom is at an elite level which most student-athletes cannot compete with.
 
Bernier is as natural a beach player as anyone could be. She began playing indoor volleyball at the age of four and added beach to her resume at the age of nine. Growing up in Puerto Rico in what she considers a 'volleyball family', Lina was exposed to the sand at a very early age and excelled in it.
 
"I live on an island, so beach volleyball is big there," Lina said. "So, I fell in love with the sport pretty early."
 
Bernier has been featured on the Puerto Rican national team. Starting at the age of 16, Lina first appeared on the circuit at NORCECAs in Cuba. It was the first of many for Bernier. Lina later qualified for the U19 World Championships in Portugal and placed ninth. Then at the age of 17, Lina competed for Puerto Rico in the U23 Word Championships in Poland, placing 14th. Lina also has experience at the Youth Olympics in China where she placed ninth, wearing her Puerto Rican colors. Over the summer, Lina competed in the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games.
 
"It's not juniors any more. It's big-people competition," recalled Bernier. "It was tough, but I got to learn a lot from the players who are older than me. Just to be in that environment, helped me grow a lot as a player."
 
Even with a decorated beach resume, Lina has not shied away from indoor volleyball. She gladly came to FIU as both a beach player and as an outside hitter for the indoor squad.
 
"I think I am a pretty good combination of both," explained Bernier. "I try to apply the aggressiveness that indoor has on the beach and the scrappiness, mental part that beach requires in indoor to make me a better player in both."
 
Lina started the first four matches of the season for the indoor team this past 2015-campaign. She led the team hitting a .300 percentage and notching a double-double in her very first game as a collegiate athlete.
 
Bernier suffered a devastating injury on the court, which sidelined her for the remainder of the season.
 
With fears that she may not return at all for the 2016 beach volleyball season, Bernier is recovering at a miraculous rate. Only three months after her surgery, Lina is already jumping a little and peppering with teammates on the sand. Trainers have not ruled out the possibility of Lina having a full recovery by the start of the season opener in Fort Lauderdale on March 4.
 
"The injury was a shock to me," she remembers. "Back then I considered my body as perfect physical condition. It was just shocking to see myself in that position only four games into my freshman season. Especially after I was doing so well. But it has helped me to grow a lot in the sense that I now know that I am not invincible. And in my opinion, this was a really good thing in one aspect for my team. A lot of players had to step up their games, which will only make us better in the following years."
 
Still, with the progress Bernier has made throughout her recovery, she acknowledged that missing the 2016 beach season wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen.
 
"There is a pretty big possibility that I can make it for the start of the season, but I would prefer not to," Lina revealed. "And that is just because I am going to be here for a long time and I want my last year to play both indoor and sand. So, I would prefer to take the entire year, and then comeback stronger next year for both."
 
Lina's level of maturity and foresight are not typical attributes found in a freshman, especially one as talented as her.
 
Lina is more than just a great volleyball player. She is a phenomenal student. She is currently studying biomedical engineering. Bernier is excited about the opportunity to work in a field that combines athletes and machines to further recovery times and perform less invasive surgeries. The design of the knee brace she wore fascinated her and could lead her towards a path of designing future braces.
 
Bernier is also a math fanatic. She specifically wanted readers to know that she is a nerd.
 
"I actually enjoy going to classes and learning and reading about what we are learning," she admits. "I like to read a lot. I read novels, Shakespeare, poems. And every year on March 14, I wear a 'Happy Pi Day' shirt. I am what you consider a nerd."
 
With what seems like unlimited potential and still four years away from graduating, Lina is still open about what she intends to do after college. Playing volleyball professionally is the most likely track for her, she acknowledged. Lina sees an opportunity playing pro in places like Italy or Tokyo or even back home in Puerto Rico. Playing in the FIVB World League for beach volleyball is a goal she has. Lina is such a humble character that although one of her biggest dreams is to play in the Olympic Games, she would not say the word 'Olympic'. FIU is proud to call Lina Bernier theirs and looks forward to four amazing years with her.
  
Continue following Sand Panthers every Wednesday. Next week, Sand Panthers will introduce the newest player to the sport, junior Katie Hogan.