LAREDO, Texas — With classes already in session and the Texas A&M International campus humming with activity, the Dustdevils volleyball team is living on Pacific Time.
The TAMIU volleyballers open their season on Friday at the Seaside Invitational hosted by Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, Calif., against a field of five other teams. The Dustdevils will play Azusa Pacific University first, at 9 a.m. on Friday. They'll hit the hardwood again on Friday, at 5 p.m., to face California State University-Dominguez Hills before closing the season-opening tournament against Cal State-Stanislaus and host Point Loma on Saturday at 3 and 7 p.m., respectively.
The Dustdevils will first play at home, at the Texas A&M International Kinesiology And Convocation Building, on Sept. 19 against Heartland Conference rival St. Edward's.
TAMIU faces a challenging campaign as it aims to produce a second winning season since 2006, when the team was a provisional member of the Heartland Conference.
The Dustdevils finished 15-12 overall and 7-7 in the Heartland Conference last season under coach Marlon Sano, finishing fourth in the conference standings to qualify for the Heartland Conference Tournament. Sano returns with the Dustdevils for his second season, while the Heartland Conference selected them to finish fifth in its preseason poll, which was voted by conference head coaches and sports information directors.
TAMIU fell in the first round of the 2012 conference tournament to eventual-champion Arkansas-Fort Smith.
The 2011 Heartland co-Freshman of the Year Alex Ciszek returns after performing as the Dustdevils' top hitter last season, leading the team with 326 total kills. Ciszek was also named to the All-Heartland Conference Team.
The junior from San Juan Capistrano, Calif., ranked second in the conference with 156 kills in conference matches, finishing with 326 total kills. She also ranked second on the team with 260 digs and added 19 aces, 29 assists, and 30 blocks.
With Ciszek, two other Dustdevils were selected to the All-Conference Team in 2012 as seniors, but neither are on the 2013 roster. Daria Winkler and Andrea Marshall rounded out the TAMIU honorees.
Fort Smith was selected to win the conference in the preseason poll after its most recent conference tournament crowning saw it earn back-to-back titles.
The eight-team conference's preseason poll saw Dallas Baptist, St. Edward's and St. Mary's selected as conference tournament qualifiers, standing as seeds 2-4, respectively. Behind TAMIU, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Newman and Oklahoma Panhandle State ranked Nos. 6-8. Lubbock Christian and McMurry will compete this season, but will be ineligible for the conference championship and postseason play because of their status as provisional members. They were not ranked in the preseason poll.
TAMIU returns seven players from 2012, including Ciszek, team captain and senior slammer Miranda Pratt, and local products Tierney Bannon-Coad and Lizzie Prieto.
Alexander High alumnae Samantha Gonzalez and Xcaret Ramirez are freshmen expected to make immediate impacts. Both join the Dustdevils as former Lady Bulldogs, entering with valuable winning pedigrees. Their Alexander teams went a combined 22-6 in District 29-5A in 2011-12.
Gonzalez was a local layer-of-the-law, earning the District 29-5A Blocker of the Year and as the Laredo Morning Times' All-City Most Valuable Player honors as a senior. This year for TAMIU, Gonzalez will split time as a blocker and an outside hitter as needed. Ramirez was a three-sport athlete at Alexander High in Laredo. She played varsity volleyball and softball from 2009-13 and varsity basketball from 2010-11, while also earning recognition as a Distinguished Athletic Program member, National Honor Society member and a Community Service honoree.
Other local products include Bannon-Coad and Prieto, both were also standouts from Alexander. Bannon-Coad played two years at the Laredo Community College before transferring to TAMIU.
