ABILENE -- The ACU volleyball team reported for workouts Sunday and will begin preparations for the 2012 season Monday morning with the summer's first workout.
The Wildcats will be on the Elmer Gray Stadium track at 9 a.m. Monday for a conditioning run, followed by the summer's first practice at 10 a.m. at Moody Coliseum. ACU was picked to finish third in the Lone Star Conference last month in the annual pre-season poll.
Head coach Kellen Mock begins her seventh season on Monday with a career record of 136-60 (.694 winning percentage), including a 64-19 LSC mark (.771 winning percentage) and three trips to the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament.
Last year's team finished 21-14 overall (14-6 in the LSC) and reached the regional tournament for the second straight season. ACU returns eight letterwinners and five starters from that squad, although a couple of those returning starters could be in new places in 2012.
All-conference performer
Neely Borger is trying to recover from an off-season knee injury and subsequent surgery, and her availability for the season is still a question mark. And
Madelyn Robinett will move from the outside to libero where she'll likely be the starter.
Borger injured her right knee on March 24 at Texas Tech's spring tournament and later underwent reconstructive knee surgery. Mock said Borger won't be fully released to participate until September, and that's when a decision will be made as to whether or not the junior middle blocker will redshirt in 2012.
"She's obviously not released, but she'll still be on the floor for some drills starting Monday," Mock said. "She rehabbed really hard throughout the spring and summer, and when she does come back she'll be every bit the player she was before the injury. But I don't know that we'll have her for this season. A lot of times the best thing for a player with her type of injury is to sit out and redshirt for a season.
"But we'll monitor her progress for the next few weeks and see how she does and go from there," Mock said. "Obviously we'd like to have her because she makes our team better. But we don't want to make a decision that's not in her best interests."
The Wildcats return reigning LSC Freshman of the Year
Sara Oxford to the middle where the 6-footer from Decatur dominated last season.
One of the biggest battles to watch during fall camp will be at setter where returning starter
Haley Rhoads will try to fend off incoming freshman
Sarah Siemens for the starting spot. Rhoads had 1,132 assists last season (10.11 per set) and also had 349 digs.
"Haley played well last fall and did well in the spring," Mock said. "She has the mindset to push this team to be as good as it can be. Sarah is very long and she's added a lot of strength since we signed her. That will be an interesting battle to watch."
The Wildcats' Purple-White scrimmage is set for Aug. 25, just a few days before ACU opens its season on Aug. 31 with a match against St. Edward's in Austin in the St. Edward's / St. Mary's Tournament.
