Women's Volleyball

Any sense of nerves were quickly settled on Monday as the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team began its preparations for the 2008 season under new head coach Mark Pryor.

Senior Brittany Williams is excited about working with the first year head coach. "Coach Pryor is very intense with great ideas on how to rebuild this program. As a senior, I won't be able to see the complete product but I am very excited about being apart of this process. One thing, Coach Pryor is trying to stress to us that it is about the process not the product."

Pryor comes to A&M-Commerce with an impressive background that includes being a head coach at Louisiana Monroe and Southwest Baptist as well as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Boise State. In addition, he has experience as the head coach of the Dallas Premier Volleyball Club and an assistant with the USA Volleyball High Performance Program and New Mexico State University.

Sophomore Rachel Lance has already noticed a difference in the team after the initial workout on Monday. "Coach Pryor gets into practice and makes all the drills like a match. He is very encouraging and helpful but stern at the same time," said the Katy, Texas native. As a freshman, last year, Lance finished fourth on the team with 1.70 kills and .34 blocks per game.

The Lions will host a two-day, four-team tournament to begin the 2008 season at the A&M-Commerce Field House. A&M-Commerce will start the season with a 2 pm match against Paul Quinn and 7 pm match against Southern Arkansas on Friday, August 29th.