Aug. 27, 2009

THIBODAUX - The Nicholls State University volleyball team will waste no time getting the 2009 season into full swing as the Colonels head to Houston to open the season against a stacked field at the Mizuno Invitational at Rice University.

The two-day tournament, which opens on Friday will see the Colonels line up across the net from Rice (a 2008 NCAA Tournament qualifier), Houston Baptist (a team that went 24-7 last season) and traditional Big XII powerhouse, Oklahoma. According to head coach Chris Laird, it's business as usual for the Colonels opening weekend.

"Our first weekend is always a big deal for us," Laird said. "We always go out and target some teams that may be a bit above our head, because we won't be able to play teams like Oklahoma and Rice once the conference season starts. Both those programs have great recruits, great coaching staffs and winning traditions. Houston Baptist is new to division I, but even they won 20 matches last year. So this is a good opportunity for us to start off hard and measure ourselves against some big-name programs and get us ready for the conference season."

The Colonels, who will be looking to repeat 2008's trip to the Southland Conference Tournament, will open the season against the hosting Rice Owls on Friday. First serve is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.

Nicholls will be opening the season against a Rice squad that finished third in Conference USA a year ago and advanced to the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

The Colonels will then follow with a pair of matches on Saturday with a 10:00 a.m. first serve against the Sooners before taking on Houston Baptist in the tournament finale.

The Mizuno Invitational at Rice University will be just the first of four regular season tournaments the Colonels will participate in that will require them to play three or more matches in two days. However, regardless of the Colonels' demanding travel schedule, Laird says his team is looking forward to finally taking the court against a real opponent.

"Training camp really picked up the last couple of weeks, and our girls have made some tremendous strides," Laird said of a squad that features seven newcomers. "They are very excited to get started and play someone else. We know it's going to be a tough tournament, but our goal is to make sure we play as hard as we can and keep progressing toward getting ready for the conference season."

Live stats for the weekend will be available online at www.geauxcolonels.com and at www.riceowls.com.

Following the 2009 season opening weekend, the Colonels will return home to host Southern Miss on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. in Stopher Gym. Admission is free for all Nicholls students with a valid student ID as well as all children age five and under.