LAKE CHARLES—The first week of school is coming to an end and the McNeese volleyball team will be tested this Friday when the Cowgirls open their season in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the University of Arkansas Invitational.
"We are really excited to get the season underway, especially since we get to play challenging competition," said second year head coach
Ashleigh Fitzgerald. "Our team really wants to be tested and we think our experiences on this big road trip will help prepare us for Southland play. We think we are as ready as we can be for this big stage."
The Cowgirls will open the season at 7 p.m. Friday against Arkansas before facing the University of Kansas (1 p.m.) and Army West Point (4:30 p.m.) on Saturday. Not only will the match against Arkansas serve as the season opener but the match will be streamed live on the SEC Network+, the network's digital platform. Web broadcast are available online at SECNetwork.com, ESPN3.com or through the WatchESPN app. The match will be one of two matches streamed on the SEC Network for the Cowgirls this season. The Sept. 1 match at Ole Miss will also be on SECN+.
McNeese returns three starters from a team that posted a 15-17 record in Fitzgerald's first season at the helm. Two of those starters are expected to be in this weekend's starting lineup. Seniors
Malina Sanchez and
Kelly Graham are two of three returning starters. Sanchez is scheduled to start at the right side and Graham as the setter. Others expected to start will be sophomore
Rae Myers or junior college transfer
Hailee Showers on the left side, and either freshmen
Monica Hudgins or Ebony Lew in the middle. Sophomore
Adison Giambrone is slated as the defensive specialist.
Arkansas, who has 11 NCAA appearances under their belt, holds a 1-0 series record over the Cowgirls. The Razorbacks defeated McNeese in straight sets in 2011 at the Arkansas Invitational.
Kansas has advanced to the NCAA Tournament the last three years, all three years being a national seed. The Jayhawks received votes in the 2015 AVCA preseason poll for the 34
th time. Kansas also holds a 1-0 record over McNeese and it has been 22 years since the two teams squared off. The first meeting came during the 1993 season at the Kansas Tournament. McNeese took the first set but dropped the next three sets.
McNeese will face Army West Point for the first time in program history. The Black Knights return 14 letterwinners from its 2014 team that posted a 14-16 overall record and finished fourth in the Patriot league.
"We don't think preseason could have gone much better. Like everyone else in the country, there is an awful lot of stuff we didn't get to, but the technical work we have covered has absolutely translated into our competitive portions," Fitzgerald said.
