Trenton, NJ-(Anthony Lawrence Caruso, III for NJSI) Tyra Turner, Rachel Wacholder, and Barbara Fontana have all won at least once on the Association of Volleyball Professionals’ AVP Hot Winter Nights Tour. Wacholder won the second and third events. Turner would win the 5th event, while Fontana won the 7th event. Also, Turner, Wacholder, and Fontana have a second place finish.

Wacholder currently has won $16,750 on the Winter tour in 5 appearances. Turner has won $10,500 on the Winter tour in 3 appearances. Fontana has won $7,750 on the Winter tour in 2 appearances.

“I don’t know if winning gives me an advantage,” said Turner. “But I definitely think just experiencing playing indoors without the conditions, because there’s a lot of experienced players who use the heat and use the wind to their advantage.

“So, this is definitely a different game, it evens out the playing field. I think everyone is at a little bit of a disadvantage because you’re not playing with your normal partner so you have to work on being flexible.”

Wacholder won the most events on the women’s event so far. Wacholder won the events in St. Louis, Missouri and Kansas City, Missouri, the second and third events on the Winter tour. Turner won the event in Madison, Wisconsin. And Fontana won her event in Minneapolis.

“I won an event in Wisconsin, so for me winning in the winter is preparation for the season.” said Turner. “It’s not as much pressure as the outdoor tournament because you don’t have to deal with the conditions of beach volleyball, whether it the wind, the heat, the dehydration so for myself that took away some things I usually have to worry about kind of out of the way so that’s nice.

“So, it’s warm inside and I’m not battling the conditions and also getting to play with different athletes. It’s a little easier to focus on yourself, per sé. It’s nice to be successful in what we usually consider the off-season.”