12/3/2010

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Siesta Key, Florida - The Fiesta on Siesta Key, one of the largest collegiate sand volleyball

competitions ever held, returns for its third year on April 16-17, 2011, in Siesta Key, Fla., presented

by Ultimate Beach Volleyball Promotions, LLC. The collegiate competition will take place on

Saturday, April 16.

David Carstenson and Tom Collett are the co-directors for the event.

"The University of Florida, the No. 1 ranked team in both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls, will

compete" announced Fiesta Co-Director David Carstenson. "Mary Wise, Florida head coach, will

bring the Gators to the Fiesta."

The Gators, who were just named the overall top seed in the 2010 NCAA Division I Women's

Volleyball Championship Tournament, will be making their third appearance at the Fiesta. This past

spring, the tandem of Kelly Murphy and Kristy Jaeckel took top honors in the Gold Division, coming

from behind to defeat teammates Callie Rivers and Lauren Bledsoe in the final. Florida finished

second in the team competition among SEC schools behind LSU.

"With sand volleyball being named to the list of Emerging Sports for Women by the NCAA, we expect

the demand for entry into our event to be off the chart," said Fiesta co-director David Carstenson. He

added: "and with the current top indoor team committing to play, well, that should help us fill up the

tournament field more readily."

Florida is one of more than 20 schools currently committed to compete in the all-day event supported

by the coaches of the participating institutions. Among the other in-state schools that are scheduled

to compete at the Third-Annual Fiesta on Siesta Key: USF, UCF, and Miami.

The format of The Fiesta is contingent upon the number of team entries from each conference. The

intention is to allow competition among schools from the same league.

"As was the case the past two years, schools from like conferences will compete against each other,"

Carstenson said. "If we don't meet the required level of participation from a particular conference, we

will mix and match schools in round-robin style play."

At the 2010 NCAA Convention in Atlanta, an override attempt was defeated and the date of the

proposal for sand volleyball becomes effective in August 2011.

For more information on the event, visit http://www.fiestaonsiestakey.com/

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