Aug. 15, 2009
FAN AND MEDIA DAY PHOTO GALLERY
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - With five days of preseason training camp complete, the UCF volleyball team welcomed fans and media members to the Venue at UCF Saturday afternoon for its Fan and Media Day, where Black and Gold loyal were able to mingle with the Knights over lunch.
Both fans and media members were treated to a first glance of UCF's 2009 squad with a meet-and-greet during lunch. At that time, second-year head coach Todd Dagenais introduced the team's eight returning letterwinners from 2008, the squad's eight newcomers and also gave his guests the opportunity to introduce themselves to the team.
Following lunch, the Knights signed autographs for fans, both young and old alike, and were able to meet with members of the local media one-on-one.
Coach Dagenais then addressed media members during a press conference, where he previewed the 2009 season and talked about the excitement surrounding his squad.
"Preseason camp has been so fun, there is just so much energy going on," Dagenais said. "The new members of the team are just bringing this fearless energy that the upperclassmen are feeding off of. A lot of times freshmen and transfers come in and they are a little bit scared and kind of unsure, but with this bunch there is nothing scared or unsure about them and it has really created a high level of practice from the very beginning... So far I am absolutely tickled with what we are getting accomplished in the gym right now."
Dagenais also spoke to the media about the task of replacing last season's key contributors Jenny Heppert, Stephanie Serna and Janine Williams.
"The tough thing is that I don't think that you replace them," Dagenais said. "You really don't replace those types of players, but what you do is find five people to make up for those three. I think this year is going to be a year where we don't have any stars. We are not really going to have that marquee name, but what we are going to have is six or seven people doing their job at a very high level. If we can get that we can make up for not having the so-called marquee name. It's going to be a team that we're really going to coach with a team effort and a team goal in mind."
The Knights will take the first step toward that team goal in their second week of training camp which continues Monday and concludes with UCF's second-annual Black and Gold Scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 22 at 4 p.m. at the Venue.
The excitement surrounding the 2009 volleyball season continues to intensify, as the squad opens the season in a mere 13 days on its home court for the Radisson-UCF Invitational on Aug. 28.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
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