IT ALL BEGINS: Middle Tennessee Blue Raider volleyball began preseason workouts on Friday. The team had been scheduled to report a week earlier, but new NCAA regulations forced preseason workouts to be pushed back a week. The team began the morning by going through a conditioning test and then running 110s. Morning practice began around 9 a.m. with the team getting into the swing of things with a full team workout and the afternoon workout will be full of individual drills. BEEN HERE BEFORE: Middle Tennessee returns 11 players, with three of the players coming back from redshirt seasons, with the redshirts including Evi Gargalianos, Megan Carter and Victoria Monasterolo.
NEW TERRITORY - DEPTH: Middle Tennessee Head Coach Matt Peck is entering new territory this season as he will have depth at positions for the first time. There will be numerous players vying for starting positions and he expects at least three positions to have multiply players looking to fill the coveted starting slots.
WELCOME LOCAL TALENT: The Blue Raiders have four local players on the squad this season. Junior Hannah Randolph, sophomore Lindsay Sisco and redshirt freshman Megan Carter are all Blackman High School products, while true freshman Ashley Asberry hails from Oakland High School.
THE TRANSFER FACTOR: Peck welcomes his first transfer into the program with two-time NJCAA Division II All-American Allison Mattox. She comes to Middle Tennessee after spending two years at St. Clair Community College.
TWO WEEKS TO THE DAY: Middle Tennessee begins the 2005 season exactly two weeks from today. The Blue Raiders will host one of two tournaments beginning on August 26 as they welcome Alabama A&M, Texas-El Paso and Tennessee State to the two-day tournament.
SUN BELT TOURNAMENT IN MURFREESBORO: Middle Tennessee will host the Sun Belt Volleyball Tournament on November 17-19 at Alumni Memorial Gym, as eight teams of the 11 schools who sponsor volleyball will be in attendance.
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