The Savannah State Volleyball team opened preseason camp this past week, sporting shorts that read “If you don’t believe. You don’t belong.” After a winless 2011 campaign, the Lady Tigers are putting the past behind them and focusing on a new future.
“From last season to this season, we have changed dramatically,” second year head coach Schannon Gamble said. “The attitudes they exude have put many of them in better spirits when it comes to what it takes to win. The team really believes this year there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
With the addition of three newcomers and a myriad of returning juniors, the Lady Tigers are looking to make an impact in their second year of competition in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The three recruits have acclimated themselves into the program over the last week and competition for starting roles has begun to accelerate.
“The competition is so much higher this year I actually do not know who will be on the court,” Gamble said. “They are each excelling in areas they didn’t know existed within them, and will come out once it’s time to play.”
The Lady Tigers have conducted daily practices this week that include strength and conditioning workouts, skill training, and team practice.
With a week and a half left in preseason camp, the layout of the team heading into the 2012 season opener at the University of Texas-Arlington Hilton Invitational on August 24 is still unsure. Gamble has an idea of the overall composition of the team with some returners claiming starting spots, but the starting lineup is not set in stone.
“I have a notion of what will happen within the court but I have a feeling some of them will make it very hard for me to stick with my ideal eight,” Gamble said. “I am looking forward to the challenge.”
The Lady Tigers will look to key returners Bryana Gadis, and senior Ashlee Butler for leadership on the court. True freshmen, Bianca Brochu, Jasmine Waite, and Justice Dilworth could see some time on the court this year as they compete for a starting role in the preseason camp.
The fall camp concludes on August 11. The Lady Tigers will hold the annual Blue and Orange Scrimmage at historic Wilcox-Wiley Gymnasium on August 21, at 6 p.m.