MIAMI, Fla. – Senior Giada Bianchi and a pair of graduate students in Alice Pratesi and Reka Orsi Toth have been awarded Conference USA Preseason All-Conference honors on Thursday, February 22, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
2024 Beach Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team
Giada Bianchi, Sr., FIU
Alice Pratesi, Gr., FIU
Reka Orsi Toth, Gr., FIU
Ashleigh Adams, So., Florida Atlantic
Jasmine Haas, So., UAB
Hailey Hamlett, Jr., TCU
Julie Honzovicova, Jr., Florida Atlantic
*Anhelina Khmil, So., TCU
Courtney Moon, Gr., Florida Atlantic
Marketa Svozilova, Jr., Florida Atlantic
*Preseason Player of the Year
Last season, Bianchi earned AVCA Second Team All-American honors and AVCA Flight One honors. Bianchi recorded a 24-8 overall record as No. 1 pairing with Paige Kalkhoff as the 24 victories led the Panthers.
Senior Giada Bianchi won preseason conference player of the year honors last season, and earned AVCA Second Team All-American and AVCA Flight One honors her sophomore season. The 6'2 Italian native posted the second most wins on the team last season, going 22-14. She recorded wins over 11 ranked opponents, and went 5-3 with fellow preseason all-conference honoree Alice Pratesi, including a 2-1 record on court one.
Graduate student Alice Pratesi brought home the most wins for the Panthers last season, going 23-12, acquiring wins over 10 ranked teams in the 2023 season. Also an Italian native, Pratesi earned 2023 C-USA Beach Volleyball All-Tournament Team paired with teammate Zuzanna Bielak after going 2-1 in court 4 with wins over Jacksonville State and UAB. She is a former 2022 All-Big West first team selection during her time at Long Beach State, as well as an AVCA Top Flight Award recipient in 2021.
Graduate student Reka Orsi Toth is a transfer from LMU, making this her first year on FIU's Beach Volleyball team. Toth was a standout at LMU, going 18-7 in 2021, playing the majority of her contests in court one. She was selected to the 2021 All-WCC Beach Volleyball first team and competed in the WCC championships and 2021 NCAA championships where she beat the likes of LSU and UCLA, getting named to the NCAA Championships All-Tournament team. An athlete on an international scale, she has played in the FIVB, FIVB AGWC and the CEV, even partnering with fellow Panther Giada Bianchi in the FIVB.
FIU was ranked #13 in the AVCA Preseason Poll and will look to return to the CUSA conference championship and the NCAA tournament as they did a year ago.
UP NEXT
FIU kicks off their season at the Jacksonville Beach Invite on February 24-25. They will play the likes of Coastal Carolina, University of North Florida, Jacksonville University, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and Palm Beach Atlantic.
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