The Austin College volleyball team enters its 22nd season under heard coach Ed Garza, and will be kicking off the 2017 with the 22nd Annual Austin College Classic on Friday with matches against Lawrence and McMurry. The 'Roos will wrap up the weekend on Saturday with matches in Hughey Gym against Sul Ross and Howard Payne.
Coming off of a season in which the team went 24-15, the 'Roos will be leaning on Rebekah Bowden, Katie Ingle, Madi McVay, Dani DeWitt, and Tatiana Ferrari as returning starters. The strong group of seniors also includes Chandler Sherman, a versatile player who has served as a setter and defensive specialist during her time in Sherman. Bowden, a middle blocker who has finished among the national leaders in blocks in each of her first three seasons, is an All-SCAC performer who should once again be in the running for SCAC Player of the Year honors.
Bowden enters the season with a chance to surpass 1,000 career kills, and should top 400 career total blocks early on this year. Ingle, meanwhile, has more than 2,100 career assists in just two seasons in the program, including 1,309 last year. She also ranks among the team's best in digs, averaging 2.47 per set during her career. McVay and Ferrari are the defensive specialists for the 'Roos, with McVay averaging 4.56 digs per set last year while Ferrari averaged 3.40 during her junior campaign. DeWitt enters her senior season with 610 career kills, in addition to 163 career total blocks.
The junior class features several experienced players, including Aelyn Rodriguez, who averaged 1.19 kills per set and totaled 67 blocks last year. Also back this year are sophomores Brooke Harris, Sam Fawcett, and Kayley LeBlanc, who each logged significant playing time in 2016. LeBlanc finished the season with 220 digs and 16 service aces and Harris averaged 1.37 kills per set.
Garza's freshman class is small but athletic and talented, with newcomers Mayson Kennon, Hannah Arbaugh, Kennedy Keuper, and Ally Raby all looking to make an impact early in their careers. The team will be in action for the first time this season at 4:00 p.m. on Friday as they host Lawrence University in the team's first match of the year.