Rollins Invitational Website (Live Stats and Live Video)
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team will open its 2012 season at the Rollins College Invitational starting Friday in Winter Park, Fla. The Dragons will play four matches -- including two against teams that are ranked in the top 25 -- as part of the two-day event, which concludes Saturday.
MSUM opens the year against Chestnut Hill (Pa.) at 8 a.m. Central time on Friday, and will face No. 19-ranked Eckerd at 11:40 p.m. CT Friday. The Dragons conclude the tournament on with matches against California (Pa.) at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and against No. 22 Rollins at 7 p.m. on Saturday night.
The Dragons will play nine matches in Florida overall. They will face Florida Southern in a non conference match on Sept. 4 before competing at the Eckerd tournament on Sept. 6-8 in St. Petersburg, Fla.
MSUM's NSIC opener is set for Sept. 14 at St. Cloud State, while the Dragons' home opener is Sept. 28 against Sioux Falls.
About MSUM
Head Coach
Tammy Blake, the dean of NSIC volleyball coaches in her 18th season, brings back an experienced roster from last year's team that finished 11-9 in the conference. That includes three players who were second-team All-NSIC a year ago: senior libero
Katy Ness, senior hitter
Heidi Lensing and senior setter
Anna Olson.
Ness led MSUM with 567 digs a year ago, while Lensing had a team-best 257 kills. Olson had 981 set assists. Another top returner is senior
Meredith Egeland, who had 213 kills a year ago. Sophomore
Morgan Gradishar returns after starting 22 matches and recording 226 kills a year ago, while sophomore
Annie Palmquist is back after finishing second on the team with 239 kills.
The Dragons' roster consists of four seniors, one junior, six sophomores and six freshmen.
Blake, who became the first Dragon volleyball coach to hit 300 wins for her career last season, is 300-227 during her time at MSUM.
Rollins Invitational/The opponents
About Chestnut Hill
Chestnut Hill finished 13-19 a year ago and 8-11 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The team returns eight letterwinners from the 2011 team. Junior Alexandra DePalma returns after recording 3.22 kills per game a year ago. Kim Feeny is in her fourth season as Chestnut Hill's head coach.
About Eckerd
Eckerd, coming off of a 27-5 season, is ranked No. 19 in the AVCA preseason poll, which is the highest ranking in school history. The Tritons were picked to finish third in the Sunshine State Conference. Lindsay Biggs, a third-team All-American a year ago, returns after recording 366 kills and 322 digs last season. Michelle Piantadosi is in her first year as Eckerd's head coach.
About California (Pa.)
The Vulcans, the preseason favorite in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference, return five starters from a team that finished with a 33-5 record in 2011. Two players who earned all-region honors, junior Meghan Franz and Brandy Harris, are the leading hitters back. Franz had 370 kills, while Harris had 360 a year ago. Peter Letourneau is in his first season as California's head coach.
About Rollins
Rollins, like Eckerd, is a member of the Sunshine State Conference. The Tars, ranked 22nd in the preseason AVCA poll, were picked to finished second in the league. Rollins returns six starters from a team that finished 24-11 a year ago, including All-American Megan Hodges, who ranked 16th in the nation in kills per set. Sindee Snow is in her 12th season as the Rollins head coach with a record of 215-168 at the school.
Sept. 4/Florida Southern match
Florida Southern was 18-13 a year ago, including 11-5 in the Sunshine State Conference, which tied the Moccasins for third with Rollins. The team returns junior Ali Skayhan, who was named to the all-region honorable mention team a year ago. Skayhan had 953 assists and 359 digs a year ago. Jill Stephens is in her 12th season as the Florida Southern head coach with a record of 250-124.
NSIC preseason poll
The Dragons were picked to finish seventh in the NSIC preseason coaches poll. The Dragons received 146 votes in the poll, just five away from sixth-place Augustana. Defending national champion Concordia led the poll with 225 points and 15 first-place votes. The regular-season champion will be determined by a 20-game conference schedule and will host the top eight teams qualifying in the NSIC tournament, to be held on Nov. 16-18
