Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Volleyball Returns to Davis Gym for Preseason Practice
8/12/2015 9:10:00 PM | Volleyball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – There were a lot of familiar faces in Davis Gym on Wednesday as the Bucknell volleyball team began preseason practice for the 2015 season. The only three newcomers – four freshmen – joined a team that returns its entire coaching staff and all but one player from last year's roster in early preparation for a quickly approaching game schedule.
Anna Allison is set to begin her third season as head coach at Bucknell and her 11th season overall with the Bison. She guided the team to a two-win improvement in league play in her second season and had the squad competitive in matches against some of the conference frontrunners. Allison was pleased with what she saw from the Bison at practice.
“You can see that they really worked hard over the summer,” Allison said. “They have high expectations for themselves. When they come back and are in shape, the volleyball part comes back to them quickly.”
The team's commitment to offseason conditioning allowed them to immediately get to work on the court. With such a large part of the roster returning from last season, the players' needed little time in getting used to playing with one another, which gave the coaching staff an opportunity to mix and match combinations of players during modified live scenarios.
The Bison open the season on the road at Central Connecticut State, where they will play the hosts, NJIT and Fairfield over a two-day span from Aug. 28-29. They follow that up with invitationals at Sacred Heart (Sept. 4-5) and Marist (Sept. 11-12) before returning home for their own multi-team event, which will include a conference match against Colgate and non-conference tilts against Providence and Delaware State on Sept. 18-19.
