FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Florida Gulf Coast University volleyball team will open the 2011 season this weekend when they head to Durham, N.C. to play in the 2011 NCCU Tournament from August 26-27.

Tournament Schedule:
Friday August 26th, 2011
11:00am Elon vs. Hampton
3:00pm Elon vs. FGCU
5:00pm NCCU vs. Campbell
7:00pm FGCU vs. Campbell

Saturday August 27th, 2011
9:00am NCCU vs. Elon
11:00am Campbell vs. Hampton
1:00pm NCCU vs. FGCU
5:00pm Elon vs. Campbell
7:00pm NCCU vs. Hampton

The Eagles, tabbed to finish fourth in the Atlantic Sun Conference preseason coaches’ poll, will face Elon (3 p.m.) and former A-Sun foe Campbell (7 p.m.) on Friday before finishing the weekend with a match against tournament host NCCU (1 p.m.) on Saturday.

FGCU is 2-0 all-time against Elon, with the Green and Blue winning the last meeting 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16) on August 30, 2008. The Eagles, who lead the all-time series with the Camels 6-1, will look to avenge last season’s loss to the Camels in Buies Creek, N.C., where they fell 3-0 (19-25,22-25,17-25) on Oct. 8, 2010. The Green and Blue and NCCU have met once with the Eagles taking the lone matchup 3-0 (30-17,30-24,30-17) on Sept. 7, 2007.

Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Dave Nichols, the 2011 edition of the Eagles return nine players from the 2010 club that went 7-19 overall (3-7 A-Sun). FGCU welcomes back All-Conference performer Jelena Simic (Lazarevac, Serbia/Kolubara Technical/Seward County CC), who returns to the court after sitting out the 2010 season due to shoulder and knee injuries.

Elon Notes
The Phoenix of Elon were predicted to repeat as Southern Conference North Division champions after receiving seven first-place votes, giving the team 61 points overall. Senior Caroline Lemke was the lone Elon player named Preseason All-Southern Conference.

Elon returns 12 players from its 2010 championship team, including four starters and third-year starting libero Ali Deatsch. Traci Stewart and Megan McMahon, who finished the 2010 season with 239 kills and 1,130 assists, respectively, will look to lead Elon to a second-straight SoCon North Division title.

Campbell Notes
Making its return to the Big South after 17 years away from the league, Campbell was selected fifth in the conference's preseason volleyball poll, as voted by the league's coaches.

Campbell finished 10-17 overall and 4-6 in conference play last season, its final year in the Atlantic Sun.

The Camels return a strong core, despite some key losses. The most experienced portion of the team sits in defense and passing with seniors Kelsey Campbell and Lauren Garza coming back for their final seasons. Campbell led the Camels in digs last year, while Garza ranked third, and second as a sophomore in 2009.

NCCU Notes
NCCU, in their first season as a full Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) member, was selected to finish third in the Southern Division ahead of Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T State and Savannah State.

The Eagles went 9-25 overall, with eight of their nine wins coming in MEAC competition.

NCCU will be led by junior outside hitter Martisann Sinclair and sophomore setter Jzima-Malaki Kalao. Sinclair ranked second on the team with 179 kills in 2010, while Kalao racked up 948 assists on the season.