WEST PLAINS, Mo. – It doesn’t get much tougher than meeting the defending national champion in your first match of the season, and that’s exactly what the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Volleyball team is going to do when they start the 2011 campaign at the Iowa Western Community College Invitational in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The Grizzlies, who finished 2010 with an 18-17 record, will meet the 2010 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I Women’s National Volleyball Champion, Western Nebraska Community College of Scottsbluff, in first-round action at the two-day Iowa tournament, which begins Aug. 26.

“We’ll find out what Western Nebraska is like really quick,” third-year Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann said.  It will be one of three potential meetings with the Cougars during the regular season.  Both teams also are scheduled to compete at the Salt Lake Community College Invitational Sept. 2-3 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and at the Seward County Community College Invitational Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 in Liberal, Kan.

“Looking at our schedule, the Seward tournament was too good not to go, especially since Western Nebraska will be there,” Wiedemann said.

Other tournaments on this year’s schedule include the Hutchinson Community College Invitational Sept. 23-24 in Hutchinson, Kan., the Miami-Dade College Invitational Oct. 7-8, and the Jefferson College Invitational Oct. 28-29 in Hillsboro, Mo.  Although hosted by Miami-Dade, the Oct. 7-8 event will be played on the State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota campus in Bradenton due to construction work on the Miami-Dade arena, Wiedemann said.

The Grizzlies also will host their own invitational tournament Oct. 14 and 15 featuring Seward County, Barton County Community College of Great Bend, Kan., Wallace State Community College of Hanceville, Ala., and defending Region 16 champion Jefferson College.  “All of these teams, except Seward, participated in the national tournament last year, so I expect this event will be just as competitive as in the past,” Wiedemann said.

Other home matches include the season opener against Redlands Community College of El Reno, Okla., at 6 p.m. Aug. 30; Lyon College of Batesville, Ark., 6 p.m., Sept. 9; Mineral Area College of Park Hills, Mo., 6 p.m., Sept. 13; John A. Logan College of Carterville, Ill., 6 p.m., Sept. 16; East Central College of Union, Mo., 6 p.m., Sept. 28; and Columbia College of Columbia, Mo., 6:30 p.m., Oct. 13.

Away matches include Columbia College, time TBA, Sept. 19; John A. Logan College, 6:30 p.m., Oct. 17; Redlands Community College, 6 p.m., Oct. 21; and Mineral Area College, 6:30 p.m., Oct. 24.

“Our schedule is tough, as usual,” Wiedemann said.  “Redlands is a new home-and-away addition this season.  They’re a good, competitive program.  We also have squads from two four-year schools.  Lyon used to play us on a yearly basis, and I’m thrilled we get a chance to see Columbia College.  They were the NAIA runner-up last season.  It will be great competition to play at that level.  John A. Logan is a D-1 program we played in 2008.  We’re glad to have them back on the schedule.

“I wish we could have had a late-season home match, but it didn’t work out for us this year,” the coach added.  “We are looking forward to hosting the Region 16 championship tournament this year Nov. 4-5.  We’re excited about that, as well as hosting the NJCAA national tournament again this season Nov. 17-19.”

After a strong spring season, Wiedemann is excited to see how her team responds to this year’s schedule.  Four players are returning from last year’s  squad – sophomores Yuan Fu, a 6-foot, 2-inch middle blocker from Beijing, China; Colbi Goff, a 5-foot, 4-inch defensive specialist from Mountain View, Mo.; Abby Hanger, a 5-foot, 8-inch defensive specialist/libero from Belleville, Ill.; and Marti Richmiller, a 5-foot, 9-inch right side hitter from Cassville, Mo.

Joining the returning players will be redshirt freshman Brittney Adkisson, a 5-foot, 8-inch outside attacker from Euless, Texas, who played with the sophomores during the spring; as well as freshmen Morgan Adams, a 5-foot, 2-inch defensive specialist from Eminence, Mo.; Candyce Alexander, a 5-foot, 10-inch attacker from Bedford, Texas; Aerielle Edwards, a 5-foot, 11-inch attacker from Haltom City, Texas; Ezgi Guney, a 5-foot, 9-inch setter from Istanbul, Turkey; Taylor Swayzer, a 5-foot, 8-inch attacker from Houston, Texas; Bri’Ja Watterson, a 5-foot, 10-inch attacker from Houston, Texas; and Magda Zieteck, a 6-foot, 1-inch attacker from Elblag, Poland.

“This group is wanting the competition,” the coach said.  “There’s a different attitude with this group.  They’re getting along well and are wanting to be pushed in practice.  We had a great spring, so the feeling I have coming into the fall is really good.  We’re also more balanced in the number of sophomores and freshmen than last season.  We have five girls who know what we do.

“It’s a strange feeling going into this season,” Wiedemann added.  “We’re in a position we haven’t been in for a long time.  We don’t have as big of a target on our back.  This group is taking where we are now and moving forward.  The past is the past, both the good and the bad.  This team has a very good feel.  They’re very athletic, they have good volleyball IQ, their skill level is good, and their chemistry is very good, and you can’t force that.  They know what they want, and they’re going to do their best to get there.

For more information about the Grizzly Volleyball program, visit the team’s website at http://www.websightmaster.com/grizzly/.