FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern volleyball team will open the 2014 season on the road to play in the Florida Southern Terrace Classic, hosted by Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida.

The Sharks will face three teams that competed in the 2013 DII NCAA Volleyball Champions this weekend.

NSU's first match will be on Friday against the Flagler Saints at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the Sharks will take on Lewis at 10 a.m. and return to the court at 5 p.m. for New Haven.

The 2014 season marks Jennifer King's debut as NSU's head coach, who joined the Sharks in January as the 11th head coach in program history. Coach King states, "Our team is ready and eager to play, and I am personally excited for my first opportunity to lead the Shark Volleyball program!"

Flagler
The Saints finished the 2013 season as the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional, falling to No. 2 Armstrong Atlantic State, 3-2. The team was picked to finish second in the Peach Belt Conference Preseason Coaches' poll, the second time Flagler has been picked beyond the first place spot since 2009. The team includes junior defensive specialist Caitlyn Kovach, who was selected to the All-Peach Belt Conference in 2013.

Lewis
The Lewis University Flyers earned a bid to the 2013 NCAA Tournament for the eight consecutive year after going 24-10 and winning the Great Lakes Valley Conference 2013 regular season title. All starters from the 2013 campaign will return to the court, including 2013 GLVC Player of the Year and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America Second Team selection Kim Vertin. The program has qualified for the NCAA tournament eight consecutive years under head coach Lorelee Smith.
 
New Haven
The Chargers were voted atop the NE-10 Champions Coaches' Preseason Poll after being named the two-time defending Northeast-10 Conference champions in 2013. The team welcomes four newcomers and features 12 returners. In her 21st season, head coach Robin Salters is on the brink of becoming the school's winningest coach with an all-time record of 88-0 in the Northeast-10 regular season.

 The NSU volleyball team features seven newcomers and six returners, including All-SSC outside hitter Sydney Cook (Jr., Miami, Fla.).
 
"We are extremely excited to start our season at the Florida Southern Terrace Classic this weekend! This is a tough event with all three of our opponents being participants in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, so we will have to play at a high level to compete with each of them," said coach King.
 
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