Come the beginning of April, the UCSD dance team will pack its bags and prance on over to Daytona Beach, Fla., to compete in the National Dance Alliance Collegiate Championships and vie against 24 teams from around the nation for the national dance title.

The trip has become an annual event for the dance team, which has come in third the previous two years.

“”The whole year this is what we work for,”” freshman dance team member Kanchan Dudani said.

“”We did really well [last year],”” said co-captain Alyssa Boland. “”We’re trying to go back and get at least third. Of course, we want to get first.””

The dance team qualified by sending a video of their performance to the judges, who then selected them to try out at the preliminaries April 5. From there, the top teams will be chosen to dance in the finals the next day.

“”This year is really cool because we’ve been able to do a lot more technical things,”” Boland said. “”We have a very technically strong team.””

According to Boland, another benefit of going to Florida is the chance to improve team cohesiveness.

“”[What we need to work on] probably is having fun together,”” she said. “”We always have to practice and work and work. Florida will be nice because it will give us a chance to be together after competition.””

The event marks the culmination of the team’s competition season, as they will relax and concentrate on recruiting new people during the next quarter.

“”Spring quarter is like our fun time,”” Boland said. “”We perform at the Sun God festival and at Greek events. It’s more kicked back.””

The team will also continue to look for a coach after losing their previous coach last fall.

“”It’s hard not having a coach,”” Boland said. “”That’s our biggest weakness.””

But for the moment the team is focused on upcoming competition and raising funds to help pay for the trip.

“”We get minimal funding from A.S.,”” Boland said. “”We pretty much pay for everything out of our pockets. This year we’re actually going to A.S. and asking for more funding but pretty much now we’re all on our own.””

To raise money, the team will have a bake sale Thursday on Library Walk, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., so go out and support the team in their quest for a national title.