UNCG set to hold Blue-Gold scrimmage on Saturday
For video of Sarah Eldridge's comments on preseason and the Blue-Gold scrimmage, click here.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG volleyball team will hold its annual Blue-Gold intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday in Fleming Gymnasium. The match will begin at 5 p.m. and admission is free for all spectators.
This will be the public's first chance to catch the 2011 Spartans in action as they look to build upon last year's squad that went 22-12 overall and advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament. This year's team is comprised of six returners and seven newcomers.
"It's a chance to see them live and let them just play after all of the training for two weeks," said coach Patrick Nicholas. "They get real excited. It's just a live game. It's not situations like we do in practice or a lot of pressure. They just get to play and have some fun.
"We're trying to see where the returners are, we know they are pretty good. We know we have three talented setters, but we have seven new people, one is a transfer. We are going to try them out at different positions to see how the new people play. They need to know this is Division I volleyball. They need to pick it up, they need to play fast and play hard. Our philosophy here is to compete hard, play fast and have fun. If they do that, it will be a good day."
The blue team will consist of Karrian Chambers, Morgan Freeman, Vicky Harley, Emily McMurtrey, Ariel Newman and Kellie Orewiler.
Sarah Eldridge, Chelsea Evans, Holland Hoefnagel, Ari Lysacek, Brittany Morris, Kelsey Sidney and student assistant coach Billi Baker will make up the gold team.
"We're looking to get out a lot of our chemistry that we have been working on, on and off the court," said senior setter Eldridge. "This year we have a very close team and we are looking to work on control our ball, hit it fast and just have fun."
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