Volleyball head coach Mark Pryor is embarking on his first full season in charge after being appointed to the job during the 2008 season.
He guided the team to a 15-12 overall record (7-6 in the Lone Star Conference) and an appearance in the LSC tournament.
“It has been pretty grueling at times,” Pryor said about his team’s preseason preparations. “When you only have a limited amount of time to prepare for a season, you have to spend as much time as the athlete’s body can handle in the gym training to prepare effectively. We had some injuries in the preseason that really limited how hard we can train and that may have an effect on us as far as wins and losses early on in the season.”
Among the players on the roster for this season are 2008 all-LSC selections Morgan Ballard, Perla Faudoa, and Lauren Flynn.
“I like the way that he does his type of preseason,” Flynn said about practicing under Pryor. “It’s not just run, run, run, it’s really focused on being on the court at all times. He’s made a huge improvement to this program.”
Last spring, it was announced that seven area high school players would be joining the team this fall. Four of those seven were all-state selections.
With all that in mind, the preseason voters picked the Lions to finish eighth in the fourteen-team conference. It’s not an ideal ranking, but Pryor does not see that as much of an obstacle.
“Predictions are like opinions,” he said. “Everyone has one. Actually, this is the highest preseason pick that the program has had in a couple of years now. Preseason polls are meaningless. What counts is where we end up at the end of the year.”
A&M-Commerce may have answered a few critics with their performance in the Angelo Retina ASU Invitational. They won two of their three games in straight sets, defeating Southern Arkansas and New Mexico Highlands.
“This past weekend was successful for getting some of our new players some meaningful time in matches, and getting them acclimated to the speed of the college game,” Pryor said. “I think that at times we played well, but at other times it looked like we had four freshmen on the floor at once, which we did.” Last spring it was announced that no less than seven players would be entering the program as freshmen. Pryor sees this as an exciting prospect, but admits it has its ups and downs.
The following weekend saw some of the new Lions perform well at the Comfort INNvitational in Maryville, Mo. Morgan Moeller, a freshman from Scurry, Texas, had seven kills in a win against Minnesota State-Moorhead.
“Our job as seniors is to bring them along and help them fill our shoes,” Amy Addison, senior and outside hitter, said. “We have a pretty strong team all around, even [off the] bench. There’s a lot of good competition which I think is good for the team because it pushes all of us to get better.”
As they are in a building year, the main goal for volleyball this season is improvement.
“This year, our goal is simple: be a little better than last year,” Pryor said. “Just like the ancient proverb says, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. We do think big picture, but we focus on the small details. We are just trying to be a little better tomorrow than we were today and just continue that process.”
The Lions’ first home volleyball match is a double header on Sept. 10. The evening starts at 4:00 p.m. when they face Ouachita Baptist. That will be followed by a game against the University of Arkansas at Monticello at 7:00.