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CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs will open their 2016 campaign inside the friendly confines of the WTAMU Fieldhouse "The Box" as they host the BritKare Lady Buff Classic on Friday and Saturday in Canyon. WT will take on Adams State, Northern Michigan, Southwestern Oklahoma State and McKendree in the two-day event with LSC rival Eastern New Mexico also taking part.
 
- SCOUTING THE FIELD
ADAMS STATE
Adams State is led by 11th year head coach Lindy Mortensen who enters 2016 with an overall record of 153-154.
 
The Grizzlies are coming off a 10-16 season in 2015 where they went 9-9 and finished tied for fourth in the Rocky Division of the RMAC.
 
Adams State is led by 1st Team All-RMAC selection Mallory Grimsrud who led the Grizzlies in kills last season with 218 (3.21/set) while ranking second in the RMAC in blocks with 84.0 (1.24/set).
 
NORTHERN MICHIGAN
The Wildcats are led by 10th year head coach Dominic Yoder who has led NMU to six-20 win seasons and three NCAA Tournaments.
 
Northern Michigan is coming off a 21-10 season in 2015 where they went 10-8 in the North Division of the GLIAC.
 
The Wildcats are led by AVCA Honorable Mention All-American Madison Whitehead who led NMU in every major offensive category, posting 351 kills (3.0/set) and a .333 hitting percentage.
 
SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
The Bulldogs are led by fifth year head coach Josh Collins who led SWOSU to their first GAC Tournament Title and the winningest season in program history last season.
 
SWOSU is coming off of a run to the NCAA Central Regional Tournament last season as they went 21-12 with a 10-5 mark in the GAC.
 
The Bulldogs are led by AVCA All-Central Region selection Carly Zak who became SWOSU's all-time leader in kills in 2015 while becoming the program's first ever All-Region honoree. Zak led the Bulldogs in kills last season with 446 (3.72/set) while also tallying 373 digs (3.11/set).
 
McKENDREE
Nickie Sanlin begins her third season at the helm of McKendree in 2016, she also serves as the head coach of the Bearcat men's volleyball team as she started that team from scratch in 2014.
 
The Bearcats are coming off of a 22-11 season in 2015 as they went 15-3 in the GLVC as they advanced to the league tournament's semifinal round and just missed out on the NCAA Tournament.
 
McKendree is led by the 2015 GLVC Player of the Year Arela Williams who led the Bearcats in kills last season with 458 (3.52/set) as she was named an Honorable Mention All-American by the AVCA.
 
HOME DOMINANCE
West Texas A&M is fortunate to have one of the best home enviroments in all of NCAA Volleyball, in any division. The WTAMU Fieldhouse is more affectionately known as "The Box," is home to 19 Lone Star Conference Championships, 13 Regional Titles and three NCAA Division II National Championships. The WTAMU Fieldhouse "The Box" boats one of the best home winning records in the NCAA on any level of competition. The Lady Buffs are 443-68 at The Box since the 1980 season for an incredible winning percentage of 86.7%.
 
STARTING OFF STRONG
The Lady Buffs are no-stranger to starting off the season on a high-note, WT is 31-5 all-time in season opening games including an impressive 27-1 when the Lady Buffs open-up the season at home as WT has won its last three season openers inside of The Box.
 
WT HEAD COACH JASON SKOCH
WT head coach Jason Skoch, a four-time Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year, is now in his eighth season at the helm of the Lady Buffs, carrying an overall career record of 352-67 (.840, 12th year including a 216-47 (.821) mark in Canyon. Skoch has led the Lady Buffs to seven appearances in the NCAA Postseason with three South Central Regional Titles and a National Runner-Up finish in 2009.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The West Texas A&M Athletic Media Relations Department will provide live stats for all matches durign the 2016 BritKare Lady Buff Classic along with a free webstream for all four WT matches. Fans can follow the Lady Buffs by visiting the volleyball schedule page at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
MOVING ON UP
Senior libero Lauren Britten is making her way up the program's all-time digs list as the Amarillo High School alumni currently sits in eighth place in the WT record books with 1,588 career digs. She is one of only nine Lady Buffs in history with atleast 1,500 career digs and the Amarillo native currently sits 116 digs behind Lauren Thedford (1,704 / 2007-10) for seventh place all-time.