Moriah Bellissimo’s transfer to Georgia State and transition to the sand volleyball courts has translated into a good fit for Georgia State.
After coming from Georgia Southern University, where only court volleyball was available, the interest in playing sand volleyball played a huge part in her decision to transfer from Southern to State.
“Since Georgia State was one of the first schools in the NCAA to have a sand volleyball program, I figured that would be a good move for me to transfer here,” Bellissimo said.
There have been some comparisons made between Bellissimo and Carico, a graduate student from last year’s squad who made it to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) pairs semifinals with partner Madewell.
However, Head Coach Beth Van Fleet says there is little in common between between the two.
“Lane and Moriah are completely different in so many ways,” said Van Fleet. “Lane grew up in Manhattan Beach, Calif., which is basically the hub of sand and beach volleyball, whereas Moriah is from Virginia. The only similarity I can see between the two is that they’re both graduate students, but not really much beyond that.”
Van Fleet said that the first glimpse she received of Bellissimo came in the form of her court volleyball play while playing at Georgia Southern.
“The first impression I had of her is when she was playing indoor volleyball. Since she decided to pursue sand volleyball, we hoped her transition from indoor to sand would be a smooth one. It seems to have been as evidenced by her play,” said Van Fleet.
Bellissimo was a two-time winner of the school’s Student Athlete of the Year Award. Her career stats with the Eagles include playing in 121 matches, where she had 783 kills, over 1,000 digs, 202 blocks, 185 assists and 87 aces.
This year, Bellissimo won in straight sets with freshman teammate Delaney Rohan over Florida Atlantic University’s Natalie Fraley and Darija Sataric in her Georgia State debut at the University of North Florida (UNF) Tournament.
At the Georgia State-hosted Diggin’ Duals Tournament, the duo of her and Rohan were victorious over Florida International University’s Jessica Mendoza and Jessica Gehrke in straight sets.
Bellissimo and senior Katie Madewell defeated Mercer’s Erin Brett and Hannah Sorensen in three sets. The duo of Belissimo and Madewell also defeated South Carolina’s Litsa Darby and Chynna Ratner in straight sets.
At the Georgia State-hosted Sand in the City Tournament, the team split its duals on a rainy Saturday, defeating College of Charleston 5-0 and gaining one point in a 4-1 loss to No. 1 Pepperdine.
Bellissimo and Madewell were victorious in straight sets to College of Charleston, but fell to Pepperdine, also in straight sets. On the final day of the tournament, Bellissimo and Madewell advanced to the semifinals of their bracket before being defeated in straight sets by No. 1 Pepperdine’s top pair of Lara Dykstra and Becca Strehlow.
With a record of 9-3 on the season, the team’s 2014 season has translated into Georgia State being ranked ninth in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Bellissimo says this ranking reflects the team’s success and is more important than any individual accomplishment.
“My main focus is the success of the team. That’s why the AVCA ranking is so important,” said Bellissimo. “Given how relatively new sand volleyball is to college sports and the fact that we are already one of the top-ranked teams is pretty remarkable.”
With nearly half of the season in the books, Bellissimo says that the main goal of the team is to keep its winning ways going and earn a spot in the national tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala.
“Our ultimate goal is to playing in May in nationals,” Bellissimo said., “We have had a great season thus far and want that to continue, but Coach [Beth] Van Fleet always instills in our heads to ‘Play for May.’ That has been our motto this season and it is important to keep that mindset when we are out there.”
