CORAL GABLES, Fla. – With a strong core of returning players and a new coach at the helm, the FGCU volleyball team will open the 2014 campaign at the University of Miami's Hurricane Invitational this weekend.  The Eagles will begin the year with a 4:30 p.m. matchup against Florida A&M on Friday, Aug. 29 and will continue tournament action with a 10 a.m. match versus Seton Hall on Saturday, Aug. 30.  The tournament will conclude at 7 p.m. Saturday when the Eagles face the host Hurricanes at Miami's James L. Knight Sports Complex.
 
The 2014 Eagles fuse first-year head coach Matt Botsford with a group of four experienced seniors, strong underclassmen and six newcomers.  With more than three weeks of preseason preparation completed, the group is eager and excited to open the season.
 
PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS
After winning the Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championship in 2012 with a conference record of 16-2, that included a 14-game win streak, the Eagles were voted as the preseason favorite a year ago but fell to the third-ranked team in this year's preseason poll.  The 2013 team finished fourth in the Atlantic Sun with a record of 9-9 and an overall mark of 14-19 under former coach Dave Nichols.  Despite a first-round win over no. 5 Stetson in the Atlantic Sun Tournament, the Eagles fell to top-seeded Jacksonville to end the season.
 
As a unit, the Eagles maintained an attack percentage of .206 last season with 12.7 kills per set.  The team held a serve receive percentage of .925 and recorded 1.9 blocks per set.
 
THE LINEUP
Seniors Jessica Barnes (Winter Haven, Fla./Haines City High School), Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River High School), Gigi Meyer (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz High School) and Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Wapahani High School) bring a wealth of experience to the lineup, with 345 combined matches on the court, an Atlantic Sun regular season championship under their belt and 35 conference wins in three years of cohesive play.
 
Of the returners, Barnes led the attack last season with 347 kills in 112 sets played.  She averaged a team-high 3.10 kills per set, while also adding 215 digs and 30 blocks.  Mesner earned the Eagles' only Preseason All-Conference nod after being named Second Team All-Conference following the 2013 season.  Mesner produced 86 blocks and 343 kills last season and currently sits just one solo block away from the FGCU all-time block record. 
 
As the team's setter, Meyer facilitated the offense with 1,300 assists last season and added 253 digs.  Masters produced 512 digs as the team's libero and was voted as the fan's choice for Preseason Libero of the Year this season.
 
In addition to the team's leadership, sophomores Marlene Moeller (Ladinghausen, Germany/Pascal Gymnasium), Caroline Jordan (Orlando, Fla./William R Boone High School), and Shelby Joslin (Alva, Fla./Evangelical Christian High School) each saw action in over 15 matches last season, while transfer students Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilsi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) and Vanessa Benke (Toledo, Brazil/College of Central Florida) endured a year of practice play with the Eagles and are ready for their debut with the Green and Blue. 
 
The lineup also includes a dynamic group of six rookies who have made strides in preseason and will be looked to for contribution in match action. 
 
FLORIDA A&M
In-state foe, Florida A&M, enters the 2014 season in search of another MEAC championship.  The perennially-successful Rattlers lost two of the team's top contributors to graduation but return Preseason All-MEAC team members Ginna Lopez-Chavez and Joanie Del Castillo.  
 
Lopez-Chavez is the team's returning kill leader.  She recorded 245 in 83 sets last season with an attack percentage of .450, while Del Castillo returns as a defensive specialist.  She tallied a team-high 388 digs last season for an average of 4.67 per set.
 
Under head coach Tanio Trifonov, the Rattlers won nine-straight conference championships between 2001 and 2009 and continued their dominance last season. The team finished the season with a record of 15-8 including a perfect 10-0 mark in conference play en route to the 2013 MEAC Regular Season Championship.
 
As a team, FAMU recorded an attack percentage of .247 in 2013, the highest of any team in the tournament field.  The Rattlers produced 12.3 kills per set with 1.4 service aces and 12.6 digs per set.
 
The Eagles and Rattlers have met once in each of the last two seasons, with both matchups resulting in 3-1 wins for the Green and Blue.  Last year, the teams battled to split the first two sets before the Eagles took control of the game to win sets three and four and earn the match victory at the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee.  Barnes led the Eagle attack with 16 kills, while Meyer facilitated the offense with 43 assists. 
 
SETON HALL
Seton Hall returns six starters from a team that finished above .500 but missed the postseason a year ago.  Despite the experienced group, the Pirates begin the year with a defensive void as they lost two-time BIG EAST Libero of the Year Alyssa Warren to graduation in the spring.  Sophomore Tessa Fournier will look to replace the floor general, while a trio of heavy hitters will maintain the offense for SHU.  Stacey Manthorpe, Amanda Hansen and Shelby Manthorpe combined for 849 kills last season, with Shelby Manthorpe also leading the team with 1,077 assists and Hansen adding 129 total blocks on the year. 
 
Head coach Allison Yaeger led the team to a 16-15 record in her fifth season, but the team missed the conference tournament with a 7-9 BIG EAST mark.  Collectively, the Pirates maintained a hitting percentage of .190 with 12.1 kills per set.  Defensively, SHU recorded 2.6 blocks per set and recorded just 17 ball-handling errors in 125 sets played.
 
Saturday's meeting will be the first between the Pirates and the Eagles.
 
MIAMI
Similarly to the Eagles, the host Miami Hurricanes enter the 2014 season with a strong group of upperclassmen and eight newcomers.  In head coach Jose Gandara's first season, the 'Canes went 19-12 with a 12-8 record in ACC play.  The team graduated two strong defensive contributors but return two First Team All-ACC members in Savanah Leaf and Emani Sims.
 
The duo returns to the court as the team's kill leaders from last year with 442 and 259 total kills, respectively.  Sims led the team with an attack percentage of .345 as a junior and recorded a team-high 153 total blocks.  Leaf maintained an average of 3.81 kills per set in her junior campaign, while also adding 293 digs on the year.  After the team lost senior libero Ryan Shaffer to graduation, Leaf returns as the team's current digs leader and will serve as a leader on the court for UM. Senior Blair Fuentez will facilitate the offense as the team's setter. Last season, Fuentez tallied 864 assists in just 87 sets.
 
As a unit, the Hurricanes were predicted to finish fourth among ACC competition. Last season, the team maintained an attack percentage of .206 with 12.7 kills per set.  Defensively, Miami posted a serve reception percentage of .925 with 15.5 digs and 1.9 blocks per set.
 
The Eagles and Hurricanes have met just once in FGCU program history when the Green and Blue fell in a three-set bout in Coral Gables in 2009.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Live statistics for the Eagles' three matches will be available via Miami.StatBroadcast.com. Fans can access live video for FGCU's faceoff with host Miami through HurricaneSports.com and as always can find live updates on Twitter at twitter.com/FGCU_VB.
 
UP NEXT
Following the weekend in Coral Gables, the Eagles' laborious season will continue at the Ohio State Annual D.C. Koehl Classic.  The Green and Blue will face Southern Illinois, Ohio State and Auburn in Columbus, Ohio Sept. 5-7.