WALTHAM, Mass. – A grueling opening three weeks of the season for the Bentley University women's volleyball team will get underway Friday afternoon with the Falcons facing a pair of Sunshine State Conference teams as part of the Nova Southeastern University Shark Invitational in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The Falcons will take on Saint Leo University at 2 pm and Lynn University five hours later.

The tournament will continue Saturday with Bentley facing nationally-ranked Rockhurst College and the host team.

It's the first of 15 straight away from home for coach Joey Pacis' team to start the season, including tournaments at Georgian Court University and Merrimack College.

Bentley, 18-10 last fall, has experience on the outside with senior Lauren Van Buren (Massapequa Park, N.Y./ Massaapequa HS) and junior Shannon Kelly (Hyde Park, N.Y./Franklin D. Roosevelt HS), and in the middle with senior Ashley Latimer (Croton on Hudson, N.Y./Croton Harmon HS). Van Buren averaged 2.35 kills when healthy last year, Kelly was second in total kills (180) while playing in all 100 sets, and Latimer produced 1.92 kills while hitting .220.

However, four key players were lost to graduation, giving others a chance to earn playing time with their performance in the spring and preseason.

One of those is junior McKenna Buck (Renton, Wash./Holy Names Acad.), who, along with Latimer, is expected to strengthen the team's defense at the net. She only played in 37 sets last year but averaged 1.14 blocks.

It was also a strong preseason for the team's six rookies. "We look to have two, and possibly three, freshmen in the starting lineup this weekend," said Pacis. "We are lucky to have a full roster of talented players fighting for playing time and to make an impact. All of the freshmen came to campus ready to play this preseason, most notably (Dani) Milner (Plano, Texas/The Greenhill School) and (Rachel) Bruno (San Diego, Calif./Frances Parker HS)."

Sophomore Krista Campbell (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North HS) regained the starting nod at setter with her play in the preseason, both on the offensive and defensive side of the net. She was the starter most of last year and averaged 8.22 assists and 1.59 digs.

Junior Celia Cristofoli (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson HS) is expected to be the team's libero, shifting over from defensive specialist. She served 39 aces last year while averaging nearly two digs.

There will be live stats for all of this weekend's matches and live video for the two on Saturday.