Published: December 11, 2008

Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) can add another name to the list of teams venturing up to Rose Hill to represent the more artistically inclined campus in intramural sports. Swing and a Miss, a co-rec volleyball team from FCLC, will begin its inaugural season on Dec. 14 at the Lombardi Field House at Rose Hill.

The team was formed by Tesah Munoz and Katherine Trezza, both FCLC ’10, who had considered playing intramural volleyball for the past two years.

“I was really involved in sports in high school,” said Trezza. “At this campus, there’s not really an emphasis on sports, and we noticed a lot of kids had been really involved in sports in the past but hadn’t had an opportunity to do that here. Plus, we thought it would just be really fun.”

This year, Munoz finally decided to put up flyers around campus hoping to attract players, and the response was surprising.

“I didn’t think that many people would actually want to play,” Munoz said. “But then we ended up getting more responses than we could fit on the team.”

Munoz played volleyball in middle school and Trezza has never played competitively, but the captains are not concerned about dominating the intramural league.

“Hopefully everyone on the team knows we’re just looking to have fun,” Trezza said.

Adam Dexter, FCLC ’10, is one of the more inexperienced players who joined solely for the fun of the game.

“I’ve only touched a volleyball a few times on the beach,” said Dexter. “I dated a volleyball player in high school, too, but that’s the only experience I have. Really, I just want to represent Lincoln Center in intramurals.”

But a few members of Swing and a Miss are experienced players, like Steph Sollers, FCLC ’10, who played volleyball in high school and claimed a California state title with her team in 2002. Sollers is quick to point out that she has “literally not touched a volleyball in three years,” but welcomes the chance to play again.

“It will be exciting, and I’m looking forward to playing a sport and being part of a team again,” Sollers said. “It’s been weird for me not to be on a team, since I played all through high school.”

Munoz and Trezza are not worried about the inexperience or rustiness of their players. To them, the team is just a new way for Lincoln Center students to experience a different part of student life not readily found in Manhattan.

“I figure it’s my junior year,” said Trezza. “I might as well try something new to get the most out of my Fordham experience… It’s going to be a little intimidating at first, going up there to play, but our whole idea is to just have fun.”

Swing and a Miss is just the latest example of student efforts to integrate the two campuses, which can, at times, be an intimidating experience. For Munoz, the trips to Rose Hill will not be as foreign, as she has already been making twice-weekly trips to the Bronx to participate in the Fordham Concert Band.

“If I didn’t have band, I think I’d be a little apprehensive,” said Munoz. “But intramurals definitely help connect the two campuses. If you didn’t have class there, you might not even know what it looks like. Now we can mingle with the Rose Hill kids.”

Dexter, who has played four semesters of intramural softball at Rose Hill with Jean-Claude Ram Van, agrees that jumping into an intramural league can feel like imposing at first.

“Intramural sports are more of the Rose Hill student culture than [they are] down [at FCLC],” said Dexter. “We’ll be playing against all Rose Hill students, who are more used to playing sports… For most of us on the team, it will be the first time [we’ve] played a sport
in years.”

Swing and a Miss is hoping to hold at least one practice before their season starts, but the lack of courts at Lincoln Center and the inevitability of scheduling conflicts make meeting times hard to come by. While the lack of facilities at FCLC are nothing new, the administration has continued its support for intramural teams by offering Ram Van passes for transportation.

The team did hit one snag in the beginning stages of the season: its name. Originally dubbed I’d Hit That, a name allegedly too risqué for the Intramural and Recreational Sports department at Fordham, Munoz and Trezza adopted Swing and a Miss as their handle. They are quick to point out, however, that the name is in no way a reflection of their playing style.

No matter what Swing and a Miss’s record is at the end of the season, at least a handful of FCLC students got to experience a new side of student life.

“Lincoln Center is small,” said Sollers. “It will be cool to meet new people and actually have a reason to travel to the Bronx.”