Florida State University Athletics
Beach Volleyball Plants Flag with Overseas Recruits
1/21/2025 1:53:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball
TALLAHASSEE – The Florida State beach volleyball program has been operating at a world-class level for more than a decade. It has been home to a glut of the finest beach volleyball players in the country, players who would go on to win AVP tournaments and international medals.
And yet, peruse the rosters of teams' past, and you'll notice an intriguing hole: Where, in a game that has gone global since the 1996 Olympic Games, were the international recruits?
Since 2013, only five athletes outside of the United States had made the move to Tallahassee. Of those five, only two – Molly McBain of Canada, and Fatma Yildirim of Turkey – were on the roster for more than a year, and only McBain would go on to succeed at the professional level (Yildirim played professionally indoors).
In a span of a single week in January, the Seminoles added 40 percent to its total of international players.
Last week, Florida State signed a pair of international recruits in Norwegian Julia Tennoy, who comes by way of a transfer from North Texas, and Shira Tal, an Israeli who will be a true freshman in the 2025-26 season.
When next fall rolls around and Tennoy and Tal join Bety Tomasova, a freshman from the Czech Republic, the trio will comprise the most international athletes on the same roster in Florida State beach volleyball history.
"We are so excited to add Julia and Shira to the garnet and gold," head coach Brooke Niles said. "They are physical, experienced, highly skilled players who will make an immediate impact on our team. What's also amazing about these two is that they are getting experience training with the best coaches in the world and playing FIVB events."
That last sentence is the part that assistant coach Nick Lucena is most excited about. It isn't just two talented student-athletes that Florida State is getting, but athletes who are also representing their respective countries competing against the best in the world on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.
The 5-foot-8 Tal, the first Israeli to don the garnet and gold on the sand, recently competed in the Pompano Beach Futures alongside Daniela Gonzalez, finishing seventeenth after bowing out to eventual bronze medalists Jaden Whitmarsh and Devon Newberry (current Florida State freshmen Bailey Higgins and Kenzie Hultquist also finished seventeenth).
Tennoy, who will also be the first Norwegian on the beach roster, has competed in the U-18 and U-20 (twice) European Championships with Melina Mol, twice finishing in the top 10, while training at ToppVolley Norway, perhaps the most well-known volleyball school in the world.
"We want student-athletes who are competing," Lucena said. "These international players are competing over the summer, representing their country, getting high-level competition reps, and then training all fall and spring."
The shift in recruiting strategy, then, isn't necessarily specifically targeted at international recruits as much as it is a mindset in recruits: If players are competing, traveling, and testing themselves over the summers, they're on Florida State's radar. The radar has simply been expanded, in this case to Norway and Israel and everywhere in between.
To that end, several current Noles, too, have been punching their passports to compete overseas, be it a minor jump to the Dominican Republic or a major haul to Asia.
Freshman Myriah Massey went to China this past September for the U-19 World Championships and returned home with a gold. Alexis Durish flew to Punta Cana in October for a NORCECA – a professional event in which teams hailing from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean are eligible to play – and didn't even drop a set en route to a gold against bona fide professionals. Hultquist and Higgins, true freshmen both, made their Beach Pro Tour debut in December for the Pompano Beach Futures, knocking out a pair from Sweden before falling to longtime professionals Megan Rice and Kendra Van Zwieten, both of whom have made an AVP final.
"There's no substitute for that type of competition," Lucena said.
"We can practice all we want," added assistant coach Travis Mewhirter, "but there's no way to simulate being down 17-18 in the second set of a quarterfinal or a qualifier or whatever it may be, against a high-level team, after dropping the first, other than getting out and competing. These players are getting that experience all summer. It's the best training you can get."
Which is why Niles was notably absent at practice on Monday morning. Where was the head coach? On a flight headed over the Atlantic, where the garnet and gold is spreading, one recruit, one country, at a time.
And yet, peruse the rosters of teams' past, and you'll notice an intriguing hole: Where, in a game that has gone global since the 1996 Olympic Games, were the international recruits?
Since 2013, only five athletes outside of the United States had made the move to Tallahassee. Of those five, only two – Molly McBain of Canada, and Fatma Yildirim of Turkey – were on the roster for more than a year, and only McBain would go on to succeed at the professional level (Yildirim played professionally indoors).
In a span of a single week in January, the Seminoles added 40 percent to its total of international players.
Last week, Florida State signed a pair of international recruits in Norwegian Julia Tennoy, who comes by way of a transfer from North Texas, and Shira Tal, an Israeli who will be a true freshman in the 2025-26 season.
When next fall rolls around and Tennoy and Tal join Bety Tomasova, a freshman from the Czech Republic, the trio will comprise the most international athletes on the same roster in Florida State beach volleyball history.
"We are so excited to add Julia and Shira to the garnet and gold," head coach Brooke Niles said. "They are physical, experienced, highly skilled players who will make an immediate impact on our team. What's also amazing about these two is that they are getting experience training with the best coaches in the world and playing FIVB events."
That last sentence is the part that assistant coach Nick Lucena is most excited about. It isn't just two talented student-athletes that Florida State is getting, but athletes who are also representing their respective countries competing against the best in the world on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.
The 5-foot-8 Tal, the first Israeli to don the garnet and gold on the sand, recently competed in the Pompano Beach Futures alongside Daniela Gonzalez, finishing seventeenth after bowing out to eventual bronze medalists Jaden Whitmarsh and Devon Newberry (current Florida State freshmen Bailey Higgins and Kenzie Hultquist also finished seventeenth).
Tennoy, who will also be the first Norwegian on the beach roster, has competed in the U-18 and U-20 (twice) European Championships with Melina Mol, twice finishing in the top 10, while training at ToppVolley Norway, perhaps the most well-known volleyball school in the world.
"We want student-athletes who are competing," Lucena said. "These international players are competing over the summer, representing their country, getting high-level competition reps, and then training all fall and spring."
The shift in recruiting strategy, then, isn't necessarily specifically targeted at international recruits as much as it is a mindset in recruits: If players are competing, traveling, and testing themselves over the summers, they're on Florida State's radar. The radar has simply been expanded, in this case to Norway and Israel and everywhere in between.
To that end, several current Noles, too, have been punching their passports to compete overseas, be it a minor jump to the Dominican Republic or a major haul to Asia.
Freshman Myriah Massey went to China this past September for the U-19 World Championships and returned home with a gold. Alexis Durish flew to Punta Cana in October for a NORCECA – a professional event in which teams hailing from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean are eligible to play – and didn't even drop a set en route to a gold against bona fide professionals. Hultquist and Higgins, true freshmen both, made their Beach Pro Tour debut in December for the Pompano Beach Futures, knocking out a pair from Sweden before falling to longtime professionals Megan Rice and Kendra Van Zwieten, both of whom have made an AVP final.
"There's no substitute for that type of competition," Lucena said.
"We can practice all we want," added assistant coach Travis Mewhirter, "but there's no way to simulate being down 17-18 in the second set of a quarterfinal or a qualifier or whatever it may be, against a high-level team, after dropping the first, other than getting out and competing. These players are getting that experience all summer. It's the best training you can get."
Which is why Niles was notably absent at practice on Monday morning. Where was the head coach? On a flight headed over the Atlantic, where the garnet and gold is spreading, one recruit, one country, at a time.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
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