In her second year in the Tulane women’s volleyball program,6-foot-2 junior Izabela Grot is feeling confident about her teamgoing into the preseason. Remembering her first tournament gamelast year against Stanford, however, which is ranked fourth in thenation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, she can’thelp but laugh.

“It was really interesting,” Grot said. “We had a lot of youngpeople. I was new to the team too. I had just transferred, and Iremember my hand was shaking.”

Now Tulane’s top offensive producer and Preseason All-ConferenceUSA squad member, Grot will lead the Green Wave in theseason-opening Tiger Invitational in Columbia, Mo. on Friday andSaturday. This time, the team will play North Dakota State, IdahoState, Missouri and Binghamton – a lineup that Green Wave headcoach Sinisa Momic says is more realistic and “designed for thisteam.”

“This year looks a little better,” Grot said. “We play Missouri,which is a great team. I played them with [Kansas State] a coupletimes … They just lost a couple of [All-Americans], and I thinkthat if there is a good time to beat Missouri, it’s now, right atthe beginning of the season.”

With a larger team roster of 16 players, the Green Wave, votedfifth in a preseason C-USA coaches poll, has been training the lasttwo weeks during the summer to prepare for the incoming season.

“The team looks really similar to last year, but we’ve grown alot,” Grot said. “We’re taller and stronger and more maturephysically. Also, we’re more precise. Last year, it was just, I dida pass, and now it’s like I do my pass an inch or two inches fromthe net. It is the little things that make us better.”

Sophomore Cori Martone said the team’s goals for the upcominggames were to cut down on errors.

“Our ball control has gotten a lot better since last year,”Martone said. “We have a lot of incoming freshman that make ourteam a lot more in-depth. They’re able to come in and step up. Theydo what we need that we were lacking last year.”

For head coach Sinisa Momic, team building is just as importantas the physical training. To improve team unity, the Tulanecoaching staff plays off the women’s competitive spirit.

“Right now, coaches have the team split into four groups, justto compete against each other in all types of stuff: weightlifting,volleyball games and quizzes in the classroom, all in which they’regaining points,” Momic said. “One team will win at the end of thepreseason and they will have their picture in the locker room.”

The coaches hope the exercises will help the team’s singularityand help them play as a cohesive unit. As Tulane progresses, itwill gain valuable experience on the court. With only one senior,Bellflower, Calif. native Nikki Osuna, the majority of the teamwill be exactly the same and playing together for another one ortwo years.

“What happens with time is they learn how to play with eachother,” Momic said. “That is a big thing in volleyball. You have tospend years playing with each other to actually learn how to be agood team. So those things are coming up now. We will advance; it’sup to us to see how far.”