BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It's that time of year again, the Samford University volleyball season gets underway this weekend at the War Eagle Invitational hosted by Auburn University on  Aug. 28^th-29^th.

The Bulldogs are coming off of yet another 20 win season and are returning a majority of the starters from last year's squad. This season however presents itself with a whole new set of challenges; one in particular is replacing team captains Michaela Reesor and Chelsi Carter. Reesor and Carter accounted for half or nearly half of the team's combined service aces and defensive production from last year along with serving as the epitome of what Samford volleyball stands for.

Despite the loss of a pair of integral competitors, Head Coach Derek Schroeder has the team poised for another successful season. Samford was picked as co-favorites to win the Southern Conference title according to the league's coaches and junior outside hitter Erin Bognar earned her first preseason accolade as she was named to the Preseason All-SoCon Team.

Navigating through this year's schedule will be a daunting task as the Bulldogs start off the season with arguably their hardest set of opponents which included reigning Atlantic Sun Tournament Champion, Jacksonville University; Southland Conference Tournament Champions, Stephen F. Austin; and a rising Southeastern Conference program with the Auburn Tigers.

The Dolphins out of Jacksonville, Florida will provide Samford with its first test of the season in a match slated for 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28^th, at the Auburn Arena. Jacksonville, much like Samford, returns a majority of its starters but also is looking to fill a huge hole in both offensive and defensive production.

Sammie Strausbaugh led JU with 562 kills (4.61 k/s), 436 digs (3.57 d/s) along with 39 service aces and was the A-Sun Player of the Year. Jacksonville will look towards senior Emily Laskelle to fill the gap left by Strausbaugh. Laskelle was recently named to the Preseason All-Atlantic Sun squad while redshirt-junior Jizzyan Gesualdo was named the Fan Voted A-Sun Preseason Setter of the Year.

Jacksonville was tabbed to finish third in the A-Sun Preseason Coaches' Poll behind Lipscomb and FGCU.

The rest of the invitational only gets tougher for Samford as the team plays the early morning match against Southland Tournament Champion Stephen F. Austin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29^th. The Ladyjacks are coming off of a 24-8 season where they breezed through the Southland unscathed with a 16-0 record.

Stephen F. Austin returns nine letterwinners which include three starters and the team's leading defensive presence in libero OJ Olson. Olson tallied 585 digs (5.27 d/s) last season for the Ladyjacks and was named to the Preseason All-Southland First Team along with fellow teammates Justice Walker and Jacque Allen who both tallied over 100 blocks a piece in 2014.

After the first match of the day at 9:30 a.m. the Bulldogs will have to wait for what will seem like the entire day to play their final match of the weekend. Samford will wrap up the War Eagle Invitational at 7:30 p.m. against SEC foe and host institution Auburn. The match can be seen on the SEC Network + that can be found on WatchESPN.com.

The Tigers are coming off of a 13-18 season where they finished tied for 10^th in the SEC with a 5-13 conference record. Auburn however returns 11 total letterwinners and all of its starters from last year's squad. 

In the end this weekend should make for a very exciting weekend of volleyball action. Fans can follow the Bulldogs on Twitter @SamfordVB and on Facebook at Samford University Volleyball.