MALIBU, CALIFORNIA – The University of the Incarnate Word volleyball team is set to begin the 2015 season at the Pepperdine Asics Classic, hosted by Pepperdine University.
The tournament starts on Friday as the Cardinals take on Pepperdine starting at 2 p.m. Several hours later, UIW will play again as they go up against the UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos starting at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the Cardinals finish up the tournament when they take on Utah Valley at 12 p.m.
The Cardinals only lost one player from last year's team and have a young, but veteran group. Senior
Angelique Vidaurri (San Antonio/Southwest HS) has been an honorable mention Southland Conference selection the last two years. She averaged 3.32 kills per set with a .209 attack last year to lead the team in both categories. Sophomore
Bryaunea Hall (Copperas Cove/Copperas Cove HS) returns as the team's top middle blocker after posting a .195 attack and 0.74 blocks per set as a true freshman. The team has three players vying for the starting setter role;
Kaitlyn Brooks (Sugar Land/Fort Bend Austin HS),
Taylor McClelland (Cypress/Cypress Ranch HS) and
Madison Williams (New Braunfels/Canyon HS). Each had over 300 assists last year.
Pepperdine University has a few returning starters including Becca Strehlow and Gaby Palmeri. Strehlow is a setter who was named on the 2015 All-WCC Preseason Team. Palmeri is an outside hitter who started all 30 matches for the Waves and was third on the team with 257 kills last year. Pepperdine enters the 2015 season with a new head coach, Scott Wong, and they will look to improve from a 12-18 record last season.
UC Santa Barbara is coming off a 13-14 season in which injures plagued the Gauchos. Coming into the 2015 season, UC Santa Barbara has several new faces that will make an immediate impact. Emilia Petrachi arrives in Santa Barbara from Italy, where she competed in Italy's premier volleyball league and was named the best libero in the region in 2014. Also, Annie Hasselmann joins the Gauchos as a freshman with All-American accolades.
Utah Valley enters the 2015 season selected to finish fifth in the Western Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The team's middle blocker, Lauren Bakker, was named the WAC's preseason player of the year. Bakker was also named to the preseason all-league team along with teammate Macky Fifita.
After the Cardinals return from the Pepperdine Asics Classic, they will compete in two more tournaments before returning home to the McDermott Convocation Center to face Stephen F. Austin on October 1.
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