A-State volleyball set for foreign tour to Italy
A-State Sports
Dennen Cuthbertson, Assistant Director for Athletics Media Relations
JONESBORO – The Arkansas State volleyball team is set to embark on a 10-day foreign tour of Italy from June 14-23 for a journey that will feature training sessions, competition against foreign opponents, and the chance to experience some of the country’s most important historical sites, cultural landmarks, and other educational opportunities.
A-State will depart Memphis on June 14 and arrive in Rome, Italy, to begin the tour of the country. The team will spend time in the cities of Rome, Florence, and Milan along with a number of other towns throughout the length of the trip. The squad will have a chance to tour museums and cultural landmarks such as the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Michelangelo’s David, the National Stock Exchange in Milan, the Cinque Terre, and much more.
As for the volleyball portion of the trip, the Red Wolves will undergo three training sessions and play three matches against quality foreign competition. The trip will allow for a multitude of team-bonding experiences on and off the court.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for our team,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “When you look at from a volleyball perspective it is so valuable because its extra practices and competition for a younger team that we need to gel as quickly as possible. Then you look at the chance for the team to bond off the court as well and spend some time together exploring and learning about an area with so much historical significance. It’s just a special chance to travel to a place that many of us might not have ever had the chance to go to otherwise.”
The NCAA allows teams to take a foreign tour once every four years and matches must be against teams from outside the United States. This is the first foreign tour for an Arkansas State program since the men’s basketball team went to Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the summer of 2013.
A-State posted a 21-12 record a season ago and was a participant in the 2017 National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The Red Wolves defeated SIUE in the first round for its first postseason win since the 1993 NIVC.