While school has just started for most of NOVA’s students, the NOVA women’s volleyball season is well underway as the team has been setting and spiking for a number of weeks.

After initial practices, NOVA’s team competed in four scrimmages in late August before officially opening its season at the Howard Community College tournament in Columbia, Md., in which it played four matches in two days.

Next, on Sept. 7, the team journeyed across the Bay Bridge to play the Chesapeake Community College Skipjacks in Wye Mills, Md. Its experience showed as it won the match in three straight games, 25-9, 25-13 and 25-18 versus a team in its first match.

This year the team will compete in 18 dual matches and two tournaments. Five of the matches will be at home with the rest on the road, as far away as Keyser, W.Va., Lancaster, Pa., and Cumberland, Md.

The first home match was on Sept. 16 at the Annandale campus at 7 p.m., in which NOVA faced Cecil College. There are two more home matches on the 21^st and 23^rd, same time, same place.

Marcus Robertson returns for his second season as head coach, with Valery Soto as his new assistant coach

This year’s roster includes only three players from last year: Zoie Seay, Malena Lopez and Nikelle Willis. One sophomore was added with the remaining nine players all being freshmen.

The roster has an international flavor, with players from Brazil and Cyprus. Two other players are from Ohio and Oklahoma.

Just as in basketball, volleyball teams usually benefit from having some tall players. And this year NOVA has two six footers: Rachel Barfield from Woodson High School and Elisavet Loukaidou from Cyprus.

By: Arch Scurlock

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