"Furman Women's Club Volleyball"

2008-2009 Roster:

Seniors:

Tournaments Attending:

Recently, the Association of Furman Studen ts (AFS) sponsored Ilysa Lanza-Kaduce to respresent Furman's Club volleyball team in the Virgin Islands for the USA Club Volleyball Program.  Ilysa writes of her experience:

         I want to thank the Association of Furman Students for sponsoring me to make the trip of a life time.  I was proud to represent Furman's Women's Club Team as well as Furman's Department of Recreational Sports at the Virgin Islands 2008 Labor Day Volleyball Tournament.  I got a chance to compete with good volleyball players from all over and to see a beautiful part of the world.

        Before I graduated (2008) I was selected to play on the Club USA Team for the tournament. Only eight women from college club teams across the US are selected each year.  The selection is based on the player's performance during the season. With a network of coaches all over the nation, the directors of the USA team watch for players on all college club teams in various tournaments.  I was recruited because I actively participated in Furman's Women's Club Volleyball for four years.

The women who were selected for the USA Club Team met each other for the first time in the Virgin Islands a few days before the big tournament.  One of the challenges for this assemblage of players was to bond and learn to play together as a team after only a few practices.  .  The roster for the 2008 Club USA Volleyball Team was as follows:

Setter = Amanda Moberg - Chico St

Libero = Kristie Yonemura - USC (California)                    

Middle Hitter = Katie Hoeper - Ohio State               

MH = Tiffany Ovbey - Elon University

Right Side = Abby Loy - Ohio State

Outside Hitter = Ilysa Lanza-Kaduce - Furman

Outside Hitter = Nicole Robinette - STL-Washington            

Outside Hitter = Chelsea Reilly - Santa Clara

Coach: Ian Henderson

Assistant Coach: Lexi Noruk

            My trip to the Virgin Islands was unbelievable!  I made friends with a bunch of great women from other college club teams.  More important, I got the opportunity to compete in the sport I love one last time while representing Furman University

            Some of the teams participating in this year's the tournament were York College, Kean University, Antigua, St Croix University, and Metropolitan University.  Metropolitan University is the perennial champion of the Puerto Rican OD League.  The Club USA team got to play against St. Croix University, Antigua, Kean University and the Metropolitan University. We defeated three out of the four teams: St Croix University (25-19, 25-17, 25-19), Antigua (25-21, 25-14, 25-15), and Kean University (26-24, 25-15, 25-9).  We were defeated in the finals by Metropolitan Univ of Puerto Rico (17-25, 21-25, 20-25), coming in second in the tournament.  One of our players, Kristie Yonemura, got an individual award for the best Libero in the tournament. 

            After this opportunity to travel to the Virgin Islands I would definitely recommend it as a place to go.  The beaches are incredible!  My wish for all Furman Students is for them to stay active and to participate in school activities.  Furman has great opportunities and can provide amazing life adventures.  This trip was a capstone of my Furman experience.  I already miss the year-round practice and intercollegiate tournaments and will forever be grateful that I got the chance to play club volleyball at Furman.