MARSHALL, Texas – Building on a very successful 2023 season, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball program has the foundation for another big run in 2024. The reigning American Southwest Conference Tournament champions return a plethora of talent while adding a strong recruiting class.
 
ETBU has 12 returners from the 2023 squad that won 26 matches and upset #13 North Park in Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Leading the returners is two-time AVCA All-American Graycee Mosley. In the past two years, she has earned honorable mention as an All-American, was the ASC MVP, and was on the All-ASC first team. She led the ASC in kills last year with 505, posting 347 digs and 19 double-doubles.
 
Avery Reid is a three-time All-ASC first-team selection, becoming the seventh player in program history to reach that feat. She collected 339 kills, averaging 3.20 kills per set, 174 digs, and 55 blocks.
 
Sydney Temple, Hannah Perry, Anita Hancock, and Lexi Moody were All-ASC selections, too. Temple and Perry made the second team while Hancock and Moody were honorable mention. Temple was fourth in the ASC in assists per set at 5.70, and Perry had 166 kills and 56 blocks. Hancock recorded 143 kills and 87 blocks as Moody added 395 assists with 103 digs.
 
ETBU opens 2024 at the Trinity University Invite, taking on the College of Saint Benedict, #8 Trinity, and Texas Lutheran. This is the first of three invites before starting American Southwest Conference play. Next weekend, they will host the Tiger Invite facing off against Huntingdon College, St. Thomas Texas, Willamette (Ore.), and Hendrix College. Their final invite is at California Lutheran University as they take on four regional teams in Pomona-Pitzer, CLU, UC Santa Cruz, and #2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
 
The ASC will consist of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Hardin-Simmons University, Howard Payne University, and LeTourneau University. Outside of the ASC schedule, ETBU has matches against Rhodes, Southwestern, and Centenary and will see Hendrix and St. Thomas Texas again. Texas Dallas will also be a regional match since they are converting to NCAA Division II.
 
The new season starts at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, in San Antonio.