TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) – Rising sophomore outside hitter Nicole Walch of the Florida State indoor volleyball team has made an early impact at the USA Volleyball National A2 Program Tournament through her first two matches played at the event held at the Dallas Convention Center.
The Stuart, Fla. native is playing with the Gold team, one of four teams in the tournament. In Saturday’s tournament-opening victory over the Blue team (25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 19-25, 15-10), Walch delivered a match-high 19 kills on 51 percent hitting. Walch added four blocks in the match to tie for the team lead.
In her second match on Sunday, which was a four-set loss to the White team, Walch once again led her squad with 17 points on 14 kills, two aces and one block.
The U.S. Women's National Volleyball Senior A2 program is available to athletes with collegiate eligibility remaining for the 2013 season. The program runs June 25 to July 4 in conjunction with the USA Volleyball Girls' Junior National Championships.
The program roster has athlete representation from 30 different universities with 12 schools having multiple selections. During the six-day training period from June 25-30, the 48 athletes are divided into four equal teams that compete in pool play against the other A2 program teams and the top four Premier Volleyball League (PVL) teams. After pool play, the four A2 program teams and PVL teams will split into their own divisions to determine the medalist teams in the competition.
Walch and the Gold team conclude pool play on Monday facing the Red team at 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT. Tuesday will include the semifinal matches, with the second and third-place squads facing off at 2 p.m. ET. The first and fourth-place teams square off at 8 p.m. ET.
The gold medal match will be played on Wednesday, July 3, at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Seminole volleyball has been represented in the USA Volleyball A2 program for the second straight year. Last season, former player Sareea Freeman and current rising junior Sarah Wickstrom participated in the four-team tournament.
The 2013 Florida State indoor volleyball schedule is set to be released in the coming weeks.
