Florida State University Athletics
How Alexis Durish's "Dip" Into Professional Beach Volleyball Changed Everything
10/3/2025 11:00:00 AM | Women's Beach Volleyball
TALLAHASSEE – Alexis Durish had little to no – emphasis on the no – interest in playing beach volleyball professionally after her four years at Florida State are up. Didn't interest her. Didn't want to do it. Didn't seem worth it.
"I don't know," she says, sitting in the FSU team room. She shrugs. Sighs. There's a but coming.
"But I wanted to try it."
This summer, Durish, following her breakout junior season in which she went 25-8 on court one, mostly alongside Audrey Koenig, and was named All-American, finally gave it the try her future deserved. The result?
Unequivocal success.
A sweeping of a field of the NCAA's best to qualify for the World University Games, a gold medal at a Beach Pro Tour Futures tournament in Geneva, Switzerland, a bronze the following week in Montpellier, France, a bronze at the aforementioned World University Games in which she and Koenig flattened a Polish pair who had been enjoying success as professionals the entire season.
Her intention was to merely try it, to "dip a toe in the water," she said. What she came away with was a wholly different outlook on her future.
"I've always had the mindset of there's just so many good people, and realizing I'm good, I guess," she said. "That helped."
This is what assistant coach Nick Lucena had been preaching to Durish and Koenig throughout their entire junior season together. He understood the reservations of attempting to play professionally – the travel, the financial commitment with no guarantee of return, the delay on whatever other future plans they had – but the one Durish mentioned above, not realizing just how talented they are, wouldn't land. Sure, she could beat a handful of college women. She could amass 85 wins over three years, putting her well on track to pass the century mark midway through her senior season. She could be All-America and All-Conference and All-Everything.
But to beat professionals?
She wasn't sure.
As she said, there's a lot of talented players in the world.
Finally, she's realizing that she's one of them.
This isn't the first time her perception of herself has been laughably undersized. When Niles was initially recruiting her to Florida State, Durish had only one goal, one desire, and it wasn't for a National Championship or to shatter records or leave an indelible legacy.
Alexis Durish just wanted to play.
Didn't matter where. Didn't matter what came next. Just wanted to play.
"That was it," she said. "I really didn't have much expectations. I don't have any goals. I think that's kind of bad."
Maybe it sounds bad to some. Certain personalities need lofty goals, ambitious GPS coordinates to put on their personal road maps. It hasn't inhibited Durish in the least. She's entering her senior season having won nearly 90 percent of her matches and went 13-1 against professionals on the Beach Pro Tour this summer. After winning gold medals in her first two – in the Cayman Islands and Geneva – she joked that she wouldn't accept anything less than gold. She did, of course, with the pair of bronze medals in Montpellier and in Dusseldorf, Germany, for World University Games, but the prevailing wisdom was this: Durish, self-deprecating though she may be, wins without needing to beat her chest about it or expecting to do so.
She just plays volleyball.
Now, with her final season at Florida State looming, there is a new future to consider, one that potentially has her competing professionally as her full-time living. How long she's going to pursue it, she's not entirely sure – "let me ask my bank account," she says, laughing. She's just going to do what she's always done: play volleyball, with no expectations of what might come of it.
The only difference is that, after all this time, Durish knows this: She can compete with the best in the world.
Listen to Durish on the SandyNoles Podcast by clicking here.
For more information on the Florida State beach volleyball program, check Seminoles.com and follow us on social media at fsubeachvolleyball (IG) and @FSU_BeachVB (X).
"I don't know," she says, sitting in the FSU team room. She shrugs. Sighs. There's a but coming.
"But I wanted to try it."
This summer, Durish, following her breakout junior season in which she went 25-8 on court one, mostly alongside Audrey Koenig, and was named All-American, finally gave it the try her future deserved. The result?
Unequivocal success.
A sweeping of a field of the NCAA's best to qualify for the World University Games, a gold medal at a Beach Pro Tour Futures tournament in Geneva, Switzerland, a bronze the following week in Montpellier, France, a bronze at the aforementioned World University Games in which she and Koenig flattened a Polish pair who had been enjoying success as professionals the entire season.
Her intention was to merely try it, to "dip a toe in the water," she said. What she came away with was a wholly different outlook on her future.
"I've always had the mindset of there's just so many good people, and realizing I'm good, I guess," she said. "That helped."
This is what assistant coach Nick Lucena had been preaching to Durish and Koenig throughout their entire junior season together. He understood the reservations of attempting to play professionally – the travel, the financial commitment with no guarantee of return, the delay on whatever other future plans they had – but the one Durish mentioned above, not realizing just how talented they are, wouldn't land. Sure, she could beat a handful of college women. She could amass 85 wins over three years, putting her well on track to pass the century mark midway through her senior season. She could be All-America and All-Conference and All-Everything.
But to beat professionals?
She wasn't sure.
As she said, there's a lot of talented players in the world.
Finally, she's realizing that she's one of them.
This isn't the first time her perception of herself has been laughably undersized. When Niles was initially recruiting her to Florida State, Durish had only one goal, one desire, and it wasn't for a National Championship or to shatter records or leave an indelible legacy.
Alexis Durish just wanted to play.
Didn't matter where. Didn't matter what came next. Just wanted to play.
"That was it," she said. "I really didn't have much expectations. I don't have any goals. I think that's kind of bad."
Maybe it sounds bad to some. Certain personalities need lofty goals, ambitious GPS coordinates to put on their personal road maps. It hasn't inhibited Durish in the least. She's entering her senior season having won nearly 90 percent of her matches and went 13-1 against professionals on the Beach Pro Tour this summer. After winning gold medals in her first two – in the Cayman Islands and Geneva – she joked that she wouldn't accept anything less than gold. She did, of course, with the pair of bronze medals in Montpellier and in Dusseldorf, Germany, for World University Games, but the prevailing wisdom was this: Durish, self-deprecating though she may be, wins without needing to beat her chest about it or expecting to do so.
She just plays volleyball.
Now, with her final season at Florida State looming, there is a new future to consider, one that potentially has her competing professionally as her full-time living. How long she's going to pursue it, she's not entirely sure – "let me ask my bank account," she says, laughing. She's just going to do what she's always done: play volleyball, with no expectations of what might come of it.
The only difference is that, after all this time, Durish knows this: She can compete with the best in the world.
Listen to Durish on the SandyNoles Podcast by clicking here.
For more information on the Florida State beach volleyball program, check Seminoles.com and follow us on social media at fsubeachvolleyball (IG) and @FSU_BeachVB (X).
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
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