MAGNOLIA, Ark. – "Coach, I am ready to compete and win." That's been the overall response third-year head coach Britney Davis has received when asking her players how they're feeling about the upcoming season; which begins in less than 24 hours inside the W.T. Watson Center. Davis' young and talented Mulerider Volleyball team are primed to overtake outsiders' low expectations as the 2018 NCAA Division II season begins on Friday.
 
Southern Arkansas, picked 11^th in the Great American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll after collecting just 17 wins over the past two seasons, has their sights set on a return trip to the GAC Tournament in mid-November. SAU last punched its ticket to Hot Springs in 2015 when that year's squad finished as tournament runner-up.
 
The August 24 start date is the earliest beginning to a season for Southern Arkansas in the Rally Scoring Era (2001) due in part to the Division II Volleyball National Championship being a part of the NCAA's 2018 Fall Festival (multiple fall championships at one site). Additionally, it's the first August start for the program since the 2012 season.  
 
The Lady Muleriders open up a season at home for the first time since 2011 as the program is set to host the Dr. Margaret Downing Invitational for the second-consecutive year. Five additional teams representing five states converge on Magnolia for the two-day, 12-match season-opening weekend. The action starts at 9 a.m. on both Friday, August 24 and Saturday, August 25, from inside the W.T. Watson Center.
 

---

 
All six teams on hand this coming weekend begin the new season with a lot to prove. Cameron University, Mississippi College, Quincy University, Union University, and the University of Texas-Permian Basin along with Southern Arkansas combined to average just over 8.5 wins a season ago with Union and Mississippi College the lone teams to reach the double-digit win plateau. Additionally, all six squads are looking for fast starts during the first couple of weekends of play to propel themselves into conference play; the six teams combined to average just under 3 league wins last fall.
 
Undoubtedly, playing with urgency has been the talk of several preseason camps for the teams in action this weekend in Magnolia. Just two of the six head coaches, Texas-Permian Basin's Tim Loesch and Union's Darrin McClure, have been at their respective institutions for three years. Davis is entering her third year at Southern Arkansas, while Quincy's Abigail Moser and Cameron's Tatiana Booth are set to begin year two at the helm of their respective programs.
 
First-year Mississippi College Head Coach Shawna Laurendine returns to Magnolia, where she led the Lady Mulerider Volleyball program to 75 wins from 2001 to 2005, while being named the Gulf South Conference's Coach of the Year in 2003 after directing SAU to a runner-up finish in the GSC West Division.
 

---

 
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS UNIVERSITY LADY MULERIDERS
Last season W/L: 8-23 (1-15 Great American)
Top returners: Seven Powers (OH), Bailey Cagle (MH), Lauren Smith (MH)
Season Outlook
 
The outside storylines during the preseason may have been targeted toward the youth of this year's Lady Muleriders, but Davis ensures that hasn't been a concern for her and her staff. In fact, it's been the exact opposite. "My coaching staff and I worked this team harder than any team we ever have during preseason," mentioned Davis. "It was two weeks long and we saw incredible growth in two weeks."
 
During that time, SAU had the opportunity to grow together and bond amid the scheduled practices, workouts and meetings which has proved beneficial seeing as the squad enters the campaign with just six returners, four of which are sophomores, and 11 newcomers.
 
"I have a focused group," noted Davis. "We are excited for this weekend."
 
CAMERON UNIVERSITY AGGIES
Last season W/L: 7-22 (3-17 Lone Star)
Top returners: Paige Dixon (OH), Brandy Carr (MB), Brittnee Altic (Libero)
Season Outlook
 
MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE CHOCTAWS
Last season W/L: 10-22 (2-14 Gulf South)
Top returners: Shelby Grace Mays (RS/OH), Jill Brown (DS), Julia Martin (DS/Libero)
Season Outlook
 
QUINCY HAWKS
Last season W/L: 8-21 (5-13 Great Lakes Valley)
Top returners: Taylor McMonagle (OH), Marissa Gonzalez (DS/Libero), Lauren Nadler (RS/OH)
Season Outlook
 
UNION BULLDOGS
Last season W/L: 15-16 (5-11 Gulf South)
Top returners: Christa Karns (RS), Rebecca Sexton (S), Abbie Rahn (OH)
Season Outlook
 
TEXAS-PERMIAN BASIN FALCONS
Last season W/L: 4-25 (1-19 Lone Star)
Top returners: Travana Matthews (MH), Kiera Granado (S), Sarah Vasquez (DS)
Season Outlook