Florida A&M Lady Rattlers prepare themselves for the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational which takes place in Austin, Texas from Sept. 2-4 2010.
The Lady Rattlers will face some more top of the line competition against the runner up from last year championship Texas, Illinois (who was ranked number five in the preseason pools), and Long Beach State (who has four national championships under their belt).
The Texas Invitational will serve as a huge test to these young Lady Rattlers. The have to play more consistent volleyball and stop the little mistakes if they want to win a game or two and avoid starting the season 0-6.
“In order to win some games we have to play our best and play as a team. We have to go hard from the very first serve, ” said Jessica Bond.
Florida A&M in the first three games was without their freshmen setter Diana Gonzales. With her return the Lady Rattlers should be able to have a lot more chances to get points and she might be the spark they need to get a win in the books.
“Diana Gomez is extremely important to the team, she is more important than a quarterback or a point guard. Her position sets the pace of the team,” said Coach Tanio Trifonov.
The Texas Invitational will be able to show the Lady Rattlers exactly how far they are away from a national championship and to prepare them for the all-important conference games. A win would be a big confidence booster to this young squad.
“We know those teams are really good teams. Learn from those teams and try to get experience and reps with the new players,” said Susan Egoavil.
This tournament may be the toughest part of the Lady Rattlers schedule.
The team will gain invaluable experience during the tournament and coach Trifonov is looking forward to playing top-notch competition from across the country.
“The experience will great playing in front of an extremely large crowd,” Trifonov said. “Texas averages 3,000 fans a game , so this will be an NCAA tournament type of atmosphere early in the season.”