COMMERCE– With the school year about to start, so too starts the 2017 season for the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team. Beginning last week, the volleyball team entered training camp to prepare for a new season.
 
LION VOLLEYBALL AT TEXANN INVITATIONAL
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
10 a.m. - Lions vs. Southwest Baptist
3 p.m. - Lions vs. No. 18 Central Oklahoma

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
10 a.m. - Lions vs. Maryville (Mo.)
3 p.m. - Lions vs. No. 23 Rockhurst

LIVE VIDEO: http://tarletonsports.com/watch/
LIVE STATS: http://statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=tarl

"This is like Christmas for me," said head coach Craig Case. "We finally get back in the gym and all the hard work in the offseason, all the hard work in recruiting, we finally get to see that on the court. That was fun and exciting."
 
It was a busy offseason for the Lions as Case and his staff brought in nine new players, including six transfer student-athletes to go along with three freshmen. Adding those pieces to the returning class, Case feels the Lions have competition for every starting spot. He is confident this will bring out the best in his players.
 
"I really like the pieces we have added to our program," he said. "It is going to be an interesting year for us. We have competition at every position. We are trying to foster that competition amongst the positions. Hopefully that gets us better faster. I am really excited about the competitiveness within the positions."
 
Case is also confident this will serve his team going forward if and when injury concerns pop up.
 
"We are going to be a little bit more injury resilient than we have been in the past," he said. "I think we have some more players that can come off the bench and provide some depth."
 
With a veteran roster that includes a combination of 13 juniors and seniors, only three players on the team have not played in a college volleyball game. With so much experience already for his players, Case is confident his players will be ready to play from the first serve.
 
"Having that many juniors and seniors, it lends itself to having maturity," he said. "Maturity helps you through adversity and it helps you beat some teams you shouldn't." 
 
The Lions will be tested early with eight matches in the first two weeks of the season, including matches against No. 18 Central Oklahoma and No. 23 Rockhurst in their opening tournament in Stephenville. Case knows that the team needs to play against top-rated teams in order to test the team and prepare them for a tough conference and to improve their chances to make the regional tournament.
 
"We want to be able to compete and win on a national level," he said. "If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. That's what we are trying to do with our schedule. You have to schedule those teams. I think the important thing for us, and this is where the maturity thing comes in, we are going to possibly take some lumps early. Hopefully we won't but we are probably going to take some lumps early. We have got to respond to that and use that to make us better and not keep us down."
 
Last season, the Lions finished the season just outside the top eight in the South Central Region. Case is confident the team can make the regional tournament this season, if they are able to win some of the games that slipped away from them last season. The team was predicted to finish fourth in the LSC Preseason Poll, but the team has its sights set higher.
 
"The easiest way into the national tournament is to win the league," Case said. "That's what we've got to focus on. Then in terms of our region, we've got as tough or a tougher schedule than we did last year. I thought we had two or three matches last year that we dropped early against critical regional opponents that we should have won. We can win them this year. I think that does a good job of putting us higher in consideration for those regional rankings."
 
The Lions begin their season Friday with matches against Southwest Baptist at 10 a.m. and UCO at 3 p.m. The team will then face Maryville (Mo.) on Saturday at 10 a.m. and Rockhurst at 3 p.m. All games will be played at the Wisdom Gym in Stephenville. The Lions will host their first home match on Sept. 12 against Dallas Baptist.

Season tickets are available for the entire volleyball season by visiting the box office in The Field House, visiting WeAreLionsTix.com or by calling (903) 468-8756. Full season tickets are $50, with mini-season packages available for three-game Lone Star packages ($20). For more information on season ticket and other ticket packages, CLICK HERE.