MORRIS, Minn. – The Minnesota Morris volleyball season begins Tuesday when MIAC preseason favorite Bethel invades the PE Center. Last season Morris beat Bethel in five sets at a neutral location. It will be a great warmup for the Cougars before they host four teams this weekend.
 
The three seniors on the roster Abby Tietz, Brooke Decker and Cori Becker are poised to be the stronghold for a team that has its sights on a UMAC Title in 2015. Tietz has been an All-Conference player in each of her first three seasons. The Cougars also welcome back a couple sophomores that saw some action last year, including All-UMAC player Marissa Ekness.
 
A group of six freshmen will look to compete for not just playing time, but a possible spot in the starting lineup right out of the gate. The Cougars have just one returning player who played in the middle last season, meaning newcomers Danyel Post or Alyssa Houselog could be called on to be the second middle in the UMM lineup. 
 
New coach Tricia Melfy is impressed with the hard work the team has put in during preseason and is excited to see the team in game action. We had a chance to interview Melfy, who was quick to say the 2015 Cougars will play fast and do everything they can on the defensive side to wear their opponent out.
 
It will be a different Cougar team than fans might be use to with a different person running the program but the expectation is to be just as competitive as before. Morris was picked third in the preseason poll, however, Melfy believes she has a team that can be last team standing in the conference if they team continues to work as hard as they have during the first few weeks of practice.
 
This coming weekend Bethany Lutheran, St. Kate's, Simpson and Hamline will be in the PE Center for the UMM Invitational Tournament.