Click
here to watch an interview with Cru head coach
Rob Frost.
Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team opens the 2012 season with a trip to the U.T.-Dallas Labor Day Tournament this weekend in Richardson. The Cru will play a total of four matches over two days in the event to kick off the year.
The weekend tournament will also give UMHB its first chance to trot out a new-look line-up in a competitive setting. The Cru returns just three letter winners from a team that set a new school, NCAA Division III era record with 21 victories last season.
Tina Miller,
Elise Butler and
Morgan Baker are the only players back for second-year head coach
Rob Frost. Miller (Sr., Copperas Cove) is a three-time American Southwest Conference All-East Division selection who seems fully recovered from a knee injury suffered late in her sophomore season. She posted 226 kills and 44 total blocks last season and should once again be one of the team's top attackers. Butler (Sr., Mesquite) is battling for the starting job at libero after recording 362 digs and 21 service aces last year. Baker (Jr., Richmond) was an all-around threat for the Cru last year, posting 440 digs, 222 kills and 27 total blocks. She is in the mix for a starting job at outside hitter.
The Cru will also be bolstered by senior transfer
Sapphire Reid (Sr., Copperas Cove). Reid has a chance to win a starting job on the outside after helping lead Long Island University to the Northeast Conference Regular Season Championship last year.
UMHB also has a deep and talented class of freshman this year and all of those players will have a chance to step in and make an immediate impact.
Shelby Prather (Fr., Leander) and
Kendall Pye (Fr., College Station) are competing for the starting job at setter while
Shelbey Perkins (Fr., Houston) and
Kendra Feldmann (Fr., Arvada, CO.) are also in the mix for playing time at libero and on the back-row for UMHB.
Lauren Powell (Fr., The Woodlands) and
Madison Butler (Fr., Magnolia) are battling Reid, Baker and Pye for playing time at outside hitter and
Cheyenne Dowdey (Fr., Hallettsville) and
Brittani Cook (Fr., Temple) are tall and athletic middle hitters who will push Miller on the front-row this season.
“I feel like we are ready to compete very well,” Cru head coach
Rob Frost said. “We look faster, higher and more athletic than we have in the past. We'll see how we start, but I think we have a chance to really improve over the course of the season and I feel like we have a chance to finish strong.”
In Richardson, UMHB will open the tournament with a 2:30 PM match against Centenary College on Friday before closing out the first day with a 5:00 Pm match vs. Texas Lutheran. On Saturday, the Cru opens with a 10:00 AM start against Hendrix College and then closes out the tournament with a 5:00 PM tilt with Hardin-Simmons University.
The Cru will continue its road trip with the U.T.-Tyler Tournament on September 7
th and 8
th. UMHB will then return home for the conference and home opener as the Cru welcomes LeTourneau University to the Mayborn Campus Center for a 7:00 PM start on Tuesday, September 11
th.
