The Lady Colonel volleyball team has high hopes for the season after appearing in the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time in the past five seasons.The team looks to start off the season on a high note with tough opponents in the Mizuno Invitational held at Rice University. In this tournament, the team will face both the host team of Rice University as well as Oklahoma and Houston Baptist University.

“We’re starting off the season with a very difficult tournament in Houston and there is definitely going to be some pretty intense competition,” Rachel Spreen, senior outside hitter, said. “However, I think we are training very hard, so we will be ready for it.”

The Lady Colonels will open up play at home on Sept. 1 taking on the Eagles of Southern Mississippi before heading on the road once more for a three-tournament stretch.

“This non-conference schedule will allow us to get a lot of playing time for our newcomers while allowing our returning players to continue to build on the progress they made this spring,” head coach Chris Laird said. “We have a chance to really challenge ourselves against some top opponents. This schedule could really help us build our confidence heading into the conference season.”

The Lady Colonels will begin conference play at home on Sept. 25 when the team takes on the Lions of Southeastern University. From there in the next 16 games, the Lady Colonels play eight home games and eight away.

“I think our hardest game is definitely going to be against one of the Texas teams,” Spreen said. “They are always the top of their game and the top of conference. Lamar won conference last year so they are definitely in it to win it again. I would say they would probably be our toughest opponent.”

The Lady Colonels have added 6 new people to the roster to help them accomplish a re-occurring goal: conference playoffs.

“We were all excited when they were coming in,” Spreen said. “Just watching them practice from day one, they have improved so much and it’s obvious they will be making a big contribution.”

The freshmen are ready to step up in order to both wear the uniform representing their school and compete for playing time.

“I feel like all of us freshmen are working hard and we just want to help the program as well as doing our best,” freshman outside hitter, Jasmine Harris, said.

While the older team members have their view on tough games, the freshmen tend to look at every game the same way.

“I think no matter what team you have to play against, you have to come out with the same mentality no matter if they are a really easy team or a really good team,” Harris said.

The team knows they have set a precedent for themselves by entering into the conference tournament last season. The team hopes to put everything together and make the tournament again as well as make it at least to the second round.