ROCK HILL, SC – Coming off its first 20-win season since 2011, the Winthrop volleyball team hits the road to kick off the 2015 season this weekend at the Tiger Invitational hosted by Missouri.
The Eagles will face North Texas Friday at 4 p.m. with contests against Missouri and North Dakota State Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. respectively.
Winthrop lost only two starters from last season but will have to try and replace the quick-hitting Alina Sopizhuk and consistent setter Jessie Vicic.
The Eagles return a strong core of attackers and defenders. On court Winthrop will be led by team captains Rachel Lenz, Emma Weakland and Hjordis Eiriksdottir.
Lenz, a senior and preseason All-Conference selection will be looked upon to lead the team at the middle blocker position alongside sophomore Keaupono Fey who came on strong in her freshman campaign.
Nikki Drost, a 2014 All-Freshman Team selection, will be expected to have a presence at outside hitter. Newcomer, junior Annelies Dokter has earned a starting spot at outside hitter as well.
Freshman Madilyn McCarty will begin the season as the starting setter as the team has been hit with injuries at that position. Head coach Bruce Atkinson believes that she is ready to step up and lead the team at that position.
The two positions that will see a battle to begin the season are the opposite hitter and libero positions. Junior Emma Weakland and freshman Lourdes Rosario will battle for the opposite hitter starting nod. Rosario will start the year at outside hitter to replace a current injury.
Atkinson has two very capable liberos in junior Maria Volstad and freshman Carlie Skelton. Atkinson describes Volstad as a better passer while Skelton is the better defender. He sees a strong possibility of running a two-libero system throughout the season.
A high-tempo attack is typical of an Atkinson offense and it is something he wants to continue this year but knows it will be a learning curve with a new group of attackers with a young setter.
"This weekend is going to be a tough test for this team and I'm not primarily concerned with wins and losses," Atkinson said. "I want to see our hitters and setter getting in sync and for us to clean up our inconsistencies from practice."
The Eagles are on the road for the first three weeks of the season and following this weekend's tournament will head to USC Upstate on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. contest against the Spartans.
