HUNTINGDON VOLLEYBALL OPENS THE SEASON IN BIRMINGHAM
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon College volleyball team expects this weekend to be a good test.
The Hawks play in the Birmingham-Southern MaK Attack Tournament on Saturday and Sunday to start the season.
Head coach Megan Aiello said the tournament will help the Hawks gauge what their strengths are and what they need to focus on moving forward.
"I think it will be a good opening weekend for us and a good experience right off the bat," Aiello said. "The biggest thing about this tournament is to get out there and get back in playing mode. This is the opening weekend and everyone is shaking off a little rust. It is important to see where we are and what we need to work on."
The Hawks play Piedmont at noon on Saturday and Stillman at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, Huntingdon faces LaGrange at 10 a.m. and Birmingham-Southern at noon.
"Piedmont and LaGrange are two of our biggest conference rivals," sophomore Abby Brown said. "It's going to be good for us to play matches like that to start the season. It will give us something to build on."
Brown and Aiello both said one of the team's goals is to improve on last season. The Hawks were the regular-season Great South Athletic Conference champions in 2010 but lost in the GSAC tournament finals.
"We're pretty excited coming off of last year," Brown said. "We're hoping to have another good year. We want to get back to the GSAC tournament and win this season."
Aiello, who is beginning her sixth season at Huntingdon, said it's clear her players are motivated. She described the intensity in the preseason as the best it's been in her time with the Hawks.
"Last season is motivation for our returning players," Aiello said. "It's still fresh on their minds. They've experienced what it's like to be in the tournament championship and they want to work hard to get back there.
"During the preseason, we've had several players at each position that are pushing each other for playing time. The intensity has been great."
After this weekend, the Hawks travel to the Berry tournament on Sept. 9-10. Huntingdon doesn't play at home until Sept. 23.
"The next three weekends, we're going to see great competition all over the southeast," Aiello said. "Last year we played tough competition and traveled a bunch, and I think that helped us be able to clinch the regular season championship. Facing tough competition early should help us again this season."