Miami, Fla.– The FIU Beach Volleyball team will be participating this weekend in the AVCA Fall Collegiate Beach Championships.

The Panthers will be represented by two pairs: Milica Vukobrat/ Giada Bianchi and Alice Pratesi/ Lucie Pokorna. The tournament will take place at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala. from Nov.4-Nov.6. Vukobrat, Pratesi, and Pokorna are all transfers to FIU and they are bolstering a talented roster that was ranked 16^th in the nation by the end of the last season.

"A lot of good competition for us, a lot of experience," said Head Coach Rita Buck-Crockett. "I think for all the teams, it's the fall, so it's really early for us to be able to put our teams together. I just think it's going to be a really good time for everybody to see kind of what you got for the spring."

This is the first ever women's pairs national championship and it will feature the top pairs in the country from many successful beach volleyball programs.  The four players representing the Panthers were awarded bids based on their performance the previous season.  Last year, Giada Bianchi, earned AVCA Second Team All-American honors landing her a bid for the upcoming tournament.

"I think all the coaches are experimenting and seeing what they have, what they don't have," said Buck- Crockett. "We wanted the athletes that brought their bids to us and then our athlete, Giada, who also had earned a bid. We wanted to see how our two biggest girls can play defensively and offensively and then our smaller ones to have them also do more than just play defense."
 
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