After winning only one game last year and playing all eight of its home games at Thibodaux High School, the 2006 Colonels volleyball team is looking forward to having an actual home-court advantage this season. “We never got the chance to play at Nicholls last season, so it almost feels like we’re playing here for the first time,” Chris Laird, head vollyball coach said.

After Hurricane Katrina survivors left Stopher and Shaver gyms, renovations were made in both facilities. Both gyms got new floors, and Stopher also got new chair-back seats on both sides of the gym.

Laird’s team was the first to play a game in Stopher when it hosted Louisiana-Monroe Tuesday, and he said the team is excited to play on the new floor.

“It’s a great opportunity for our players to play in a gym that everyday looks more and more like a state-of-the-art facility,” Laird said. “We were very fortunate to play at Thibodaux High, but this is where we want to be.”

With a two-and-a-half week break because of the hurricanes and two home schedule changes, the team didn’t have its first home game until October last year. Laird said his team was always ready to play, but it faced many obstacles.

“Instead of focusing on playing, we had to focus on when, where and if we were going to play a game at all,” he said. “But you have to give credit to the team for persevering through so much.”

Six players are returning from last year’s team, all having played over 50 games last season. Laird said he is very confident in his returning veteran players and looks to them to guide his new recruits.

“Our returnees have been very good at showing the new players how to succeed at this level,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of new players that will have an immediate impact for us, and we want them to be confident.”

Atina Porter, the only senior on the team, will be moving from outside hitter to middle as the featured hitter in the Colonel’s lineup.

“Having her in the middle makes us stronger offensively and defensively,” Laird said.

The non-conference schedule has the Colonels playing a tournament at Centenary and Birmingham Southern before starting conference play at Southeastern. After playing Division I schools such as Penn State, LSU and Rice last week, Laird believes these games will get his team prepared for conference.

“A lot of people thought we were getting in over our heads against these bigger teams, but our players went out and played with the purpose of showing that we can hold our own with anybody,” he said.

Laird believes that his team needs to stay focused on being determined to play with anybody and consistently get better with every match. With that determination, Laird said the team can then focus on making it to the tournament.

“Continuous improvement is something we strive for, and as long as we do that, we give ourselves a great opportunity to succeed,” Laird said.