PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo opens its 46th season of intercollegiate women's volleyball this coming weekend (Sept. 1-2) as they play four matches over a span of two days at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Invitational in Kingsville, Texas.

The ThunderWolves opens the 2023 season with an 8 a.m. MT match on Sept. 1 against Tiffin University, before facing the host school, Texas A&M-Kingsville at 4 p.m. MT on Sept. 1. CSU Pueblo will close out the season-opening event on Sept. 2 with matches against Quincy University, who is receiving votes in the Preseason AVCA/Taraflex Division II Coaches Poll and Ouachita Baptist at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. MT respectively.

"We are tired of the preseason and we're ready to get across the net from somebody else and smack some balls around this weekend," CSU Pueblo fifth-year head coach Austin Albers said. "We have a young group this season, unlike last season, we're inexperienced, but we've got some key returners and a strong group of leaders returning. We're excited about the things that we've seen from our team in terms of laying the groundwork to be successful. I think our new players have picked things up rather quickly, settled in and we're super talented."

Albers says that one of the biggest keys early in the season will be to see how the new players can gel and play together.

"I think the most important thing will be to see how well we can gel, how quickly we can figure out our line-up and where we can best complement one another so we can put the best product on the floor and compete at a high-level day in and day out," said Albers, who has posted a 64-36 record with the Pack, including winning at least 19 matches each of the past two seasons.

Since Albers' arrival on campus prior to the start of the 2019 season, the Pack volleyball program has turned the corner. Prior to Albers' arrival, the program had posted a 32-76 record over the previous four seasons and finished no higher than eighth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, but since 2019 the Pack has won 64 overall matches, 45 RMAC matches and has finished in the Top 6 of the league all four seasons, including back-to-back fifth place league finishes the past two seasons. In addition, the program has made two consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament.

"Our players have really done a good job over the past four-plus years of buying into our culture and that change of culture has helped us turn the program around and put us in position to be one of the top programs on a yearly basis in the RMAC," added Albers.

The Pack, who were picked to finish fifth in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, comes into the 2023 season welcoming back four starters and nine letterwinners from last season's 19-9 squad that went 12-6 in the RMAC and advanced to the NCAA South Regional Tournament for the second consecutive season and fourth time in school history.

Among the key returners for the Pack are sophomore outside hitter Payton Van Veen (Springfield, Mo./Washburn), who was named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American and RMAC Freshman of the Year after leading the ThunderWolves in kills (293), kills per set (2.96), points (341), points per set (3.44) and was third in blocks with 73. She also hit .280 and had 18 matches with 10 or more kills, including a season-best 22 kills against Adams State.

"In terms of awards and recognition, Payton has led the way for us after only being here for a year. The biggest thing I've seen with her is a jump in her maturity and her growth as a person. She's far more consistent in how she approaches the game and has set some lofty goals for herself," Albers said when asked about the impact of Van Veen on the Pack program. "I've just seen a different level of professionalism with her and that is exciting to see. When your best player is outworking everyone and putting in the extra time, it typically goes well for your team and that's the thing that I've seen from her that's impressed me."

Another key returner is sophomore outside hitter Sadie Scoville (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove), who was named an Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection after being second on the team in kills with 222 and hit .248. The third returning All-Conference player from last season is junior middle blocker Josey Nunn (Kingwood, Texas/Porter), who was named an Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection after being second on the team in blocks with 106 and averaged 1.08 per set and hit .393 with 108 kills.

"Sadie (Scoville) looks good. She was an All-Conference honorable mention last season and was in the running for Freshman of the Year behind Payton (Van Veen). She's been steady," added Albers. "We've elevated her to a captain's role and just to see her leadership and consistency day in and day out has been tremendous."

Other returners for the Pack are redshirt junior setter Grace Jansen (South Jordan, Utah/Jordan), redshirt sophomore outside hitter Savannah Coats (McHenry, Ill./McHenry), junior setter Sabrina King (Parker, Colo./Lutheran), senior opposite side hitter Bailey Combs (Fresno, Calif./Central Oklahoma) and sophomore opposite side hitter Kendall Harrington (San Antonio, Texas/Tom C. Clark).

Albers said the return of both Jansen and Coats from injuries that forced them to sit out all last season has been a big positive entering the 2023 campaign.

"Getting Grace and Savannah back off injury has been good. Grace was a two-year starter for us until last year when she sat out with a knee injury, so having her back this season will help us," the Pack coach added. "Sabrina (King) has started for two years in the setter position and she's showing some good leadership. And then on the right side, we return, Bailey (Combs) and Kendall (Harrington), as they both split the roles last year. Both have been consistent with their play and will help provide depth at that position."

Albers also said that his two senior returning defensive specialists – Kealey Marshall (Aurora, Colo./Cherokee Trail) and Taylor Maguire (Lyons, Colo./Lyons) – have shown tremendous leadership this preseason.

"Kealey and Taylor have really stepped into their leadership roles and seeing them continue to grow and be able to show up to practice and do things with dependability has been a great example for the newcomers," said Albers.

The Pack warmed up for the 2023 season by playing a scrimmage match on Aug. 19 at the NCAA Division I foe, University of Denver. In that scrimmage match, the Pack took the first set, before Denver would come back and win the next three sets.

Albers said he learned a lot of things about his team from this scrimmage and after a slow start early on, he was impressed with how his team responded.

"I saw our inexperience in our youth, especially early in the match. We got in a 9-2 hole early and called a time out and gave them some colorful words to remind them that we're a good team and we need to go out and play as the aggressor and sit back like we were, so I was impressed with how they responded from that," the coach stated. "We came out on a 23-11 run and won the set, 25-20, so it's there. The big things we saw was just our inexperience of getting in that moment and the jitters getting to us, so what we really need to do is to find those kids that mentally are going to be consistent enough and I think our freshmen and newcomers will come along over the course of the season."

One impressive stat from the scrimmage with Denver was the Pack's ability to block as they out blocked the Pioneers, 9-6 and averaged 2.25 blocks per set.

"We saw some great consistency in blocking. We out blocked them 9-6. To average 2.25 blocks per set against a team that was 6-5, 6-6 and 6-4 across the front row is going to translate well and it puts us into a position we'll be a Top 25 blocking team again as we've got to be able to hang our hat on the defensive side of the ball," Albers said.

Last season, CSU Pueblo averaged 2.30 blocks per set, which was second-best in the RMAC and 25th nationally in Division II.

In addition to the nine returning players from last season, Albers and his coaching staff have added 10 newcomers to this program's roster, including two transfers – junior opposite hitter Brooklyn Casey (Peoria, Ariz./Scottsdale CC), who started her career at Chaminade, before playing the past two years at Scottsdale Community College, where she earned NJCAA First-Team All-American honors and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Golden Finch (Albuquerque, N.M./Cal State-Bakersfield).

"I think we hit on both of our transfers. Golden (Finch), who is a transfer from Cal State-Bakersfield, is looking like she's going to compete for a starting middle gig. She's super high, super athletic and blocked it well in the scrimmage against DU and I just love her energy on the court," added Albers. "Brooklyn, who was a JUCO All-American last year just does so many things well. We can play here in the back, on the right side. We're trying to figure out where the best spot for her is right now. She brings a lot of experience as with the COVID year, she could be a senior this year. She's an old junior. She has this professionalism, maturity and is seasoned enough that she does some things most new kids don't do when they first step onto campus."

Along with the two transfers, Albers has brought in eight freshmen to this year's roster. Those eight freshmen are outside hitter Kaitlyn Hall (Colorado Springs, Colo./Falcon), middle blocker Ally Lange (Carterville, Ill./Carterville), setter Sophie Mika (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy), middle blocker Andi Nothdurft (Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert), outside hitter Ceanna O'Loughlin (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit), libero Maddox Richtmyre (Surprise, Ariz./Willow Canyon), middle blocker Macy Wood (Sandy, Utah/Alta), and libero Braelyn Woodworth (Gilbert, Ariz./Perry).

"I am seeing some really good things out of our freshmen this preseason. We've got a talented group," added Albers. "Macy (Wood) in the middle is an offensive threat, but we need to get her blocking where it needs to be. Our liberos, Maddox (Richtmyre) and Braelyn (Woodworth), have done a nice job and Ceanna (O'Loughlin) is going to be in a competition for one of the pin spots as well. In the scrimmage, she passed it well and hit it well."

One of the deepest positions this season for the Pack is the libero position, according to Albers.

"That DS/libero position is right now where we're trying to figure out who to put where because it's probably our deepest position and most level right now," added the Pack coach.

Albers said that one of his team's biggest keys this season will be having his players stay bought in and play as a team.

"The biggest thing for us this season is that we all need to stay bought in and stay on track. If we have players that get upset or angry with their roles and they think that they should be playing and it becomes more about them than the team, I could see that derailing us," stated Albers. "But outside of that, I think staying healthy and just being patient are important for us. We are going to be young and we're going to hit some speed bumps in the road, but the big thing is for us not to overreact."

Unlike the past couple of seasons when the Pack were more of a veteran team, the Pack will be a relatively young and inexperienced team this season due to the presence of so many new players.  

"We've been veteran heavy the last couple of years, so we've tended to overreact to big losses, but I think this year we're just going to have to understand that we're going to have moments where we don't look great, but we're going to try and stay consistent and stay mentally tough. We must just understand that if we continue to get better each day and chip away at the little things and not hold us back from achieving what I think we're capable of with our talent," the Pack coach added.

Albers said a big positive this season for his team has been the leadership he's seen not only from his senior group of players, but his captains – Jansen, Marshall and Scoville.

"Our senior group and our captains are doing a really fantastic job of holding everyone accountable, laying out expectations and being a young team, we've kind of put some safeguards in and some extra support to help bring those youngsters along and get there," Albers added.

Two key areas that Albers thinks will continue to be successful this season with his team are blocking and serving.

"Those are two things we try to hang our hat on," stated Albers. "Offensively, we are going to try to remain efficient. Our hitting efficiency has progressively gone up year-to-year-to-year as we've set a program record each season, so we need to continue to do that, but I could see that drop off a little bit because we will have some new bodies in there attacking. But the big thing for us is going to be, can we do the other things and defend behind the ball to make up for that."

Much like previous seasons, the RMAC is expected to be remain of the strongest volleyball conferences in Division II in 2023 as four league schools – MSU Denver, Regis, Colorado Mesa, and Colorado School of Mines – are each ranked in the Top 25 of the Preseason AVCA/Taraflex Division II Coaches' Poll. MSU Denver, who has won two straight RMAC regular season titles, is the highest ranked league school as they open the 2023 season ranked No. 3, while Regis is ranked 18th, Colorado Mesa is 21st and Mines is 22nd. Those same four teams in order were picked first through fourth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

"Once again, we're all chasing MSU Denver after their last two seasons. I anticipate them being able to have another good year. I think Regis is a dark horse. I don't know that people are giving them enough credit as they return their entire starting line-up whereas MSU Denver lost a few kids. So, I think Regis is poised to give them (MSU Denver) a run, whether that will be in the season or the postseason," the coach said. "There's big graduation loses with us and Mines, so it's going to be a matter of how do the new kids' gel and come in and have an impact. And then with Mesa, they had some brutal injuries late, so it's going to be a matter of seeing how those kids recover. They've still got a great setter at the reins, and we know they're going to be formidable. I think there are question marks beyond us."

Albers said that he expects several other schools to make a push this season, including Colorado Christian, Western Colorado, and Adams State.

"I think Christian's going to take a jump this year. They return a nice group of players and I know Western finished last in the polls, but I think they've done a good job at recruiting and will surprise some and Adams has a new coaching staff and should be improved," Albers said.

The Pack's season will more than likely rely on how they perform on the road as the ThunderWolves will play just seven of their 26 matches at home in Massari Arena with the first home match scheduled for Sept. 19 against Adams State for its annual So Long Summer match.

"We are going to have to be road warriors as we'll play a lot of our matches on the road this season," said the Pack coach. "We've typically been about 60 percent win percentage in road matches, but we're going to need to jump that to between 70 to 80 percent this season. We've been great at home over the past four years, but our struggles on the road have held us back from being in the Top 3 of the league. So, this is a great opportunity for our team to spend 70 percent of this season in somebody else's gym and figure out ways to win there."

The four teams that the Pack are playing this coming weekend at the season opening TAMUK Invitational posted a combined record of 80-42 a season ago and one of the teams – Quincy, who went 28-3 – advanced to the NCAA Tournament a season ago. In addition to Quincy, Tiffin went 13-17, while Kingsville went 20-10 and Ouachita Baptist was 19-12.

"We intentionally try to schedule ourselves a couple of things – one, regional opponents, where you have to get those regional wins and the second thing is in this Texas tournament, the overall record of the teams that we're going to go out and play will be significantly better than it was when we started things off last year at Angelo State's tournament," Albers said about this coming weekend's matches to open the season. "We are just going to have to be consistent. We'll be playing some teams that, like us, are super young that have had some success in the past but have reloaded with a bunch of freshmen. But for us, we've got to go down there expecting to win and take care of business. We're going to have to ride the hot hand and ride our veterans early and allow our youngsters to settle in and get comfortable. If we pass it well enough and allow our setters to make the right decisions and spread the ball to the people that we need to spread the ball to, you know, we're going to be in good shape."

Following this weekend's four matches in Kingsville, Texas, the Pack will remain on the road for four more match next weekend (Sept. 8-9) as they travel to Durango, Colo., to compete in the Fort Lewis Invitational. At that event, the Pack will face Angelo State and Southwestern Oklahoma State on Sept. 8 and then face Texas A&M-International and East Central (Okla.) University on Sept. 9.