Sept. 21, 2007

Miami Gardens, Fla - Compared to her competition Maria Roman is new to the game of volleyball; she has been playing for a little over two years. A lot of her competition has been playing for eight years or more. Despite this, her play during the week ending September 16 earned her FSC Volleyball Player of the Week and a NAIA Region XIV Volleyball Player of the Week nomination.

"I was like wow, that's incredible," Roman said. "I've seen myself as a tennis player trying to play volleyball. I've been playing tennis since I was five and only played volleyball my junior and senior years' of high school."

Roman's week featured matches against Embry-Riddle, a 3-2 loss and Edward Watters, a 3-0 win. For the week she totaled 30 kills ten more than the next nominee for player of the week. She also managed 10 blocks (eight solos). If she keeps putting together numbers like that she may want to start calling herself a tennis player who can play volleyball.

"I just decided I didn't want to play tennis in college so this has been all about getting in here and learning how to play at this high level as fast as I can," Roman said. "The award makes me say, I did get a lot better and shows me what I can do if I keep working hard."

The award stands as reassures for both Roman and her parents' she can perform at the collegiate level. Her parents' were a little skeptical of the decision to change sports, but have remained supportive of their daughter's decision.

"They were like, `really?' Roman said. "They were shocked and sad they haven't gotten a chance see me play much."

Her parents' should have plenty of opportunities to catch her in action because Roman is a freshman. Her favorite thing about college so far, is not having class on Fridays. She graduated from Michael Krop Senior High School in the spring of 2007. There the 6-0 Roman found success making several kills because she was taller than a lot of her peers.

She was impressed by the increase in competition at the college level immediately. She said the moment she noticed a lot of the girls were the same size as her she knew she had to work hard with her coach to improve her technical skill to avoid being average.

"I need to work on my transition, sometimes I stand in the middle too much and even though I'm tall and athletic I still need to work on my blocking," Roman said.

Roman's attention to her blocking ability is why her favorite moment of the season came on a game winning block against Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

"The girl went up and as I was going up I wasn't sure I could do it but I knew I wanted to win badly," Roman said. "When I blocked it I felt real good, I guess it's not how good you are but how bad you want to win."

Roman's teammate Julianne Rivera agreed the ERAU game was special for herself and her teammates.

"We didn't give up," Rivera said. "The match was really close and usually we would have given up but we stuck through it and showed we could do it."

Roman described the team's performance during the game as shocking for everyone even their coach. She said girls were diving for ball through the stands and benches. She said the crowd was so shocked by their performance they were silent except for the Bobcat soccer players who showed up for support.

"A lot of people underestimate us but I think we will continue to shock a lot of people," Rivera said.

She was nominated for FSC setter of the week. In the two matches she put together five service aces and 75 assist. She said she was excited to be nominated but not completely satisfied with her play. Rivera junior is doing a lot of learning on the job like Roman.

"I'm used to playing libero, a totally different position from setter," Rivera said. "As setter I always have to make the right choice, yet sometimes I blankout, and make a mistake."

As a junior on a nine player team with six freshmen Rivera is a leader. She provides emotional support for her teammates and tries to set a good example for them. One skill she wants to improve on his her nonverbal communication with her teammates. This is something she believes will improve with time and experience playing together.

Alexia Secondo was nominated for FSC Libero of the Week for the second straight week. She recorded four service aces and nine digs against ERAU.

The women's soccer team has been on a role lately winning five straight. Sandra Vargas was apart of that success and was nominated FSC Offensive Player of the Week. She scored the game winner against NCAA division one Florida Gulf Coast University. Carly Laskowski was nominated for Defensive Player of the Week. She helped lead a defense which allowed one goal in two games.

Stefan Peretz's two goals in two games were enough to earn him the nomination for Offensive Player of the Week, while Jan Wiechmann's effort earned him the defensive player nomination.