Aug. 31, 2000

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford University's volleyball team has been training for the past three weeks in preparation for the 2000 volleyball season. This weekend the Bulldogs will find out where they stand in that preparation.

Samford opens the season on Friday against East Carolina University in the Winthrop/Micro-Tel Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C. The first match will be tough one as East Carolina won the fifth annual tournament last season. The Pirates finished 9-16 last season despite starting the year 5-0. The schedule only gets tougher as the Bulldogs will face, the tournament host, Winthrop University on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Eagles went 20-15 a year ago and finished third in the Big South Conference. The final match of the tournament will be at 1 p.m. Saturday against Bethune-Cookman College, which suffered through a 3-24 1999 season.

"This is a good tournament to see where we are heading into the season," said Samford head coach Vickie Nichols. "We had a good preseason. The freshmen are all showing improvement and they will all see playing time this weekend."

The Bulldog newcomers include outside hitter Ashley Fulton who has impressed the coaching staff with her passing and hitting abilities. She will be pushed into early action due to a nagging shoulder injury to sophomore Abby Miner who was named to the TAAC all-newcomer team last year. Freshman Stefanie Pickett is also expected to see a lot of playing time either as a middle hitter or on the right side. "We are a little short handed, injuries have been a factor this preseason, but I think the freshmen are ready to step in," says Nichols.

Among the returning players, senior Shaliece Hall and junior Shellie Ouldhouse have had a solid preseason and will be keys to the Bulldogs success this weekend. "Shaliece and Shellie have really played well in our scrimmages and with two or three freshmen on the floor their leadership is going to be very important," said Nichols. Sophomore setter Colleen Donivan will be the starting setter this weekend but freshmen Krista Kettering will see action. Both setters have preformed very well in scrimmages and the coaching staff feels comfortable with either leading the team.

"We are so far ahead of where we were last season," says Nichols, "The players are eager to play people they don't know and they are excited about competing. These three matches will be tough but it should give us a good idea about what kind of season we are going to have."

The Bulldogs open at 2 p.m. ET on Friday against East Carolina and will open up the home schedule next Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Alabama State.