MARSHALL, Texas – Returning a young team from the 2017 season, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball team is set to open up 2018 in Colorado Springs, Colo. ETBU will compete in the Colorado College Classic, matching up with North Central College, St. Thomas University, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Colorado College. The tournament is set to kick-off on Aug. 31.

ETBU enters the tournament after a 13-19 overall record finishing 8-8 in the American Southwest Conference. ETBU garnered a number of key victories, defeating #13 University of Texas Dallas, 3-2, in Ornelas Gymnasium last year. The Tigers capped off their season of upsets with a thrilling come from behind victory over Hardin-Simmons in a five-game set in the ASC Tournament. The team accumulated a total of 1,329 kills and 1,250 assists offensively on the year. On the defensive side, the Tigers recorded 2,005 digs for an average of 17.6 per set, along with averaging 1.2 blocks per set.

Leading the Tiger attack last season was Paige Miller. The OH senior collected 274 kills for along with 396 digs and a team-leading 46 service aces to earn a spot on the All-ASC First Team.  Senior S Elyse Shaw also gained All-ASC First Team honors pacing the team with 680 assists. Fellow senior Allison Sevening ranked second on the team in kills, recording 234 in 2017. Karina Lay led the team in digs with 405. Bailey Byas rounds out the effort defensively, contributing 63 blocks.    
NCC comes into the Colorado College Classic after a 12-7 overall record in 2017. The Cardinals collected a total of 777 kills last season, with Cara Howell leading the way with 189 kills of her own. Howell also added 185 digs. St. Thomas University last battled ETBU in 2012, where the Tigers defeated STU in four sets, 3-1.

ETBU will face Nebraska Wesleyan on day two of the tournament. This will be the first meeting between the two clubs, with the game set to start on Saturday, Sept 1, at 9:00 a.m.

ETBU will close out the tournament with a match against host Colorado College. In the previous meeting, ETBU defeated CC in five sets in Ornelas Gymnasium on Sept. 17, 2015. The Tigers are 1-1 all-time against CC.

ETBU has acquired several key players in the offseason heading into this weekend's tournament, but Head Coach Keely Peterson believes that there are still some challenges they will need to overcome going into the Friday matchup with NCC.
"This is going to be a very strong tournament. We will be playing some really tough teams. Colorado College had a great year last season. Our girls have come in in really great shape, but we know we have to get ourselves acclimated to the high altitude. But we have a lot of depth this year that we can use, so it should be an exciting week for us," Peterson said.

ETBU will open the Colorado College Classic on Friday, Aug. 31 with a matchup against North Central College at 10:00 a.m.