SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The 2010 Terrier Volleyball team has been hard at work preparing for the upcoming season. After arriving on campus August 10, the squad has hit the hard court, weight room and sand courts in training for the upcoming Tiny Laster Memorial Tournament.

The squad arrived on campus with nine of the 12 players being freshman and sophomores. Despite the team’s youth, three of the returning sophomores were starters on the 2009 team that went 18-14 on the year. This group includes Reagan Styles (libero), Arden Anderson (middle blocker) and Rachel Woodlee (outside hitter). “We are much deeper; we’re much more competitive,” commented Coach Corey Helle on this year’s squad. “The practices are much more fun. We can do many more things because we have the bodies and the talent to do so.”

The Terriers will be led by three returning seniors: Catelyn Amende, Stacy Byrd and Courtney Shippy. Amende and Byrd have been starters their entire career at Wofford. Byrd led the team in kills last year with 313 and a 2.93 kills per set average, which was fifth in the Southern Conference. Amende set a school record last season as a junior for season attack percentage with a .285 mark. She also set a new school record for single match attack percentage with a .818 mark against Savannah State. Shippy had playing time in 15 matches last season. She has had a strong preseason so far and is looking to contribute for the Terriers this year.

With a week of preseason training already under their belts, the team continues to improve every day. With so much talent in the depth, Coach Helle has been able to try different strategies at will. As expected, Helle has drilled simple technique in every session. “In volleyball it’s all about serving and passing. You have to serve really tough and you have to pass the ball to targets,” said Coach Helle. The team focuses on mastering these basic skills with each practice, so they can have a solid groundwork established when they want to experiment with different strategies and systems. “It really boils down to basics,” commented Coach Helle. “You have to serve the ball tough, you have to pass the ball to target and you have to hit the ball in court. The teams that do that the most consistently are the teams that will win the most.”

The Terriers will continue preseason training as they look forward to the Tiny Laster Memorial Tournament next weekend, August 27th. The tournament is hosted by Hampton University in Hampton, VA. The group is scheduled to play four teams including: Bryant University, Hampton University, UM-Eastern Shore, and S.C. State.