LONGVIEW, Texas -- Experienced and talented.

Those two adjectives can be used to describe the 2024 LeTourneau volleyball team. Under third-year head coach Alison Williams, the YellowJackets open the season at the Great Lakes Cross Over in Sandusky, Ohio on Friday against Manchester (12 p.m. CDT) and Heidelberg (4 p.m. CDT).

LeTourneau brings back all six of its All-ASC selections from a season ago, including back-to-back ASC Libero of the Year in graduate student Morgan Nix.

Combined with a mix of experienced personnel and newcomers, the YellowJackets seek to climb the ASC in 2024.

THE ROSTER

Williams' roster is loaded with decorated players and talent all around the floor.

Headlining the returners is Nix, the two-time ASC Libero of the Year. Nix is coming off another record-breaking season as she led NCAA Division III in digs per set (7.27) and digs (751) -- both program season records. Nix enters the year 120 digs shy of the program's career record.

Also back for another season is graduate student Allison Smith. One of the best middles already in program history, Smith is the career record holder for blocks and hitting percentage while earning first team All-ASC accolades. She averaged a career-high 0.94 blocks per set.

Senior Yari Ortiz enters her second year with the YellowJackets after earning ASC Newcomer of the Year in 2023. Ortiz led the team in kills (310) and kills per set (3.13) last season. Senior Kaci Monk earned her third straight All-ASC honor last year after totaling 244 kills (2.32 per set) and a .233 hitting percentage.

Senior setter Reina Lawson was a second team All-ASC honoree last year and led the ASC with a career-high 7.90 assists per set and 830 total assists -- fifth-most in a season in program history. Lawson added a team-high 17 double-doubles.

Sophomore Nora Lockhart thrived in her first season and earned All-ASC honorable mention. The middle averaged 0.84 blocks per set. Lockhart is one of three sophomores on the team along with Amya McNeal and Maddy Hirneise.

Hannah Payan and Ty Shannon round out the senior class. Payan was an All-ASC selection in 2022 and totaled 163 kills last year. Shannon had 1.51 digs per set in 68 sets played a season ago.

The returning junior class includes Kaylyn Taylor, Amya Orn, Meghan Womack, Grace Talkington, and Emma Smith. All five players have played key roles for the YellowJackets.

Williams' recruiting class includes five freshmen and one junior. Transfer Kylee Marksberry joins the fray after playing two seasons at Temple College. The freshmen class consists of Logan Lear, Elyse McKinney, Dylan Presley, Jill Childs, and Ashlyn Walther.

ASC OUTLOOK

LeTourneau was selected fourth in the ASC preseason poll. 

East Texas Baptist highlighted the preseason poll with seven first-place votes and 47 points with Mary Hardin-Baylor accumulating the other three first-place tallies and 39 points. Hardin-Simmons was third (29 points) with Howard Payne fifth (18 points).

Ortiz and Nix were both selected to the ASC Players to Watch List.

THE SCHEDULE

The season opens with a trip to Ohio as the YellowJackets participate in the Great Lakes Cross Over on Aug. 30-31. LeTourneau will face Manchester and Heidelberg on Aug. 30 before finishing with Allegheny and Case Western Reserve on Aug. 31. All four matches will be first-ever meetings between the programs.

The early season tournament schedule continues on Sept. 6-7 in Memphis, Tenn. LeTourneau squares off with Moravian and host Rhodes on Sept. 6 and then Elmhurst and Millsaps on Sept. 7.

On Sept. 13-14, the YellowJackets head to Jackson, Miss., for the Millsaps Invitational against Austin College and McMurry (Sept. 13) and Centenary (Sept. 14).

The 2024 home opener is also the ASC opener for the YellowJackets as LeTourneau hosts East Texas Baptist on Sept. 20 (6 p.m.). The opposite end of the Highway 80 Rivalry will take place in Marshall on Oct. 11.

LeTourneau will play three straight at home from Sept. 24-28 with Belhaven (Sept. 24), UT Dallas (Sept. 27), and Mary Hardin-Baylor (Sept. 28) coming to Longview.

The final three home matches are set for Oct. 25-29 against Howard Payne (Oct. 25), Hardin-Simmons (Oct. 26), and Centenary (Oct. 29).

The ASC consists of LeTourneau, East Texas Baptist, Howard Payne, Hardin-Simmons, Mary Hardin-Baylor, and UT Dallas in 2024-25. Matches against UT Dallas will not count toward league standings as the Comets transition to Division II.

LeTourneau wraps up the regular season with a pair of road tri-matches at St. Thomas (Nov. 2) and at Hendrix (Nov. 9).

FOLLOW THE YELLOWJACKETS

Be sure to follow LeTourneau athletics all season long on letuathletics.com and social media at Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news, and other information.