Soccer, volleyball, cross country gearing up for 2015 seasons

Four Columbus State teams opened practice for their respective 2015 seasons on Wednesday.

Those four are soccer, volleyball and both cross country teams.

The soccer team is back after one of its best seasons in 2014, which saw the Lady Cougars go 21-1-1. CSU suffered its only loss in the national quarterfinals at Rollins.

Nicole Corcione led the team with 25 points last season and earned All-America honors. She will be joined by Mandy Janowitz, Chelsea Person, Andi Larese, Taylor Marks, Maylyn Parsons and Shelby Rolling.

Rolling has earned all-Peach Belt Conference honors three times, while Marks has twice been named all-PBC.

"We have so many new faces, players and staff included, and that brings excitement," soccer coach Jay Entlich. "We are thrilled that the new players took chances on us, so we can reach our ultimate goal, which is going to the Final Four and winning a national championship."

The volleyball program heads into its third season after the program was restarted in 2013.

Kylie Beaubien, Megan Frame and Andrea Skipor return as middle blockers.

"It was an awesome first day of practice," volleyball coach Casey Cornett said. "It has been one of the best first days I ever been around. We are trying to get all of our new players jiving with the returners so we can all be on the same page. I'm so excited about the mix of girls we have and I couldn't be happier with the roster right now."

The men's cross country team will be looking to defend its PBC championship, while the women's team will be looking for its first conference title since 2010. The Lady Cougars have finished runners-up the past two seasons.

This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Soccer, volleyball, cross country gearing up for 2015 seasons ."