BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Campbellsville Lady Tiger (0-0) volleyball team is set to open their 2018 campaign on Friday, August 24 when they travel to Bowling Green to play in the Mid-South Conference Crossover Challenge.
 
They will face No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan (0-0) at 5 p.m. ET in their first contest of the day and Reinhardt University (3-1) in their second one at 7 p.m. ET.
 
CU Opens The Season at MSC Crossover Challenge

• The Lady Tigers are getting the 2018 season started with a tough four game stretch in Bowling Green, Ky., as the four teams combined to go 104-35 in the 2017 season.
• They start off with No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan at 5 p.m. and then Reinhardt at 7 p.m. on August 24. The two of those teams went 29-12 and 29-7 last season.
• Campbellsville then plays Texas Wesleyan and Point University on August 25. Texas Wesleyan went 27-7 and Point finished 19-9 in 2017.
• The Lady Tigers played Indiana Wesleyan twice in the 2017 campaign and the two teams split the series with CU winning 3-0 in the first match and Indiana Wesleyan winning the second one, 3-1. Campbellsville also met Texas Wesleyan in the NAIA Opening Round with TWU winning, 3-2.
• These will be the first meetings for CU versus Reinhardt and Point
  University since at least 2005.

 
Tiger Clawz

• Campbellsville returns seven players from last season's team, including three (Maria Coelho, Julia Fonseca and Kaite Johnson) who were named Second Team All-MSC.
• Fonseca finished the season with 334 kills and .307 kill percentage that ranked fourth in the MSC. She also added 97 blocks.
• Johnson returns for her senior season, she finished last season with 310 kills and 390 digs.
• Coelho is the leading returner with 387 kills in her 2017 campaign.

 
CU Begins a New Era of Volleyball under Snyder

• Eric Snyder joined the Campbellsville Athletics staff as the new volleyball head coach for the men and women's teams in the summer of 2018.
• Prior to coming to Campbellsville he was the men's volleyball head coach at Warner University in Florida. He led Warner to a 17-3 record in the 2018 men's season.
• Overall he has five seasons of women's volleyball head coaching
  experience and four seasons of men's head coaching experience under his belt.
• He last coached the women in 2012 when he was the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, he led them to an 18-14 record that season and 44-20  record overall in two seasons. In five previous seasons overall he has an 83-75 record coaching women's volleyball and in four seasons coaching men's volleyball he has gone 55-40.

 
CU is Receiving Votes in NAIA Preseason Poll

• The Lady Tigers enter the 2018 season is just on the outside looking in-in the NAIA preseason Coaches' Top 25.
• They received 44 votes in the initial poll placing them at No. 28 in the Nation, just behind Embry-Riddle No. 26 and Rocky Mountain (Mont.) at No. 27.
• They were ranked as high as No. 22 in the 2017 season.

 
Tough Schedule is CU Tradition

• The Lady Tigers have five games scheduled versus teams that are ranked in the NAIA preseason Coaches' Top 25, and two more against teams that are receiving votes.
• They start the season this week with matches versus No. 22 Indiana
  Wesleyan and Reinhardt University who is receiving votes.
• Later in the season Campbellsville will play two matches each versus No. 1 Lindsey Wilson and No. 17 Georgetown as well as Trinity Christian who is also receiving votes.
• Lindsey Wilson is the defending NAIA National Champions who finished the 2017 campaign with a 36-0 record.

 
Mid-South Conference Preseason Poll

• Lindsey Wilson was picked to finish first by the coaches within the Mid-South Conference. It finished with five of the eight first place votes and 46 total voting points.
• Georgetown received the other three first place votes and finished with 43 total voting points as it was picked to finish second.
• Campbellsville came in third in the polling with 37 points; University of the Cumberlands with 30 total points followed Campbellsville.
• Cumberland University, Life University, University of Pikeville and Shawnee State University rounded out the Mid-South Conference polling.
• Campbellsville finished the 2017 season in third place with a 10-4
  conference record and made a trip to the Mid-South Conference
  Tournament championship after it defeated Georgetown, 3-1.
• The Lady Tigers get their MSC season started on September 4 when they travel to the University of Pikeville for a 7 p.m. match.