WILMINGTON, N.C. – Tabbed as the fourth head coach in the school's 15-year NCAA Division I history over the offseason, first-year head coach Steve Benson will clock in his long-awaited debut for the Presbyterian College volleyball program this weekend, starting off the 2023 campaign with a three-match burst in UNC Wilmington versus three separate opponents.

Taking over a roster that returns eight letter-winners from last fall and five players who saw regular time as starters during that period, Benson and co. will peel the cover off the brand-new campaign by taking on Stetson tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. from Wilmington's Hanover Hall.

Less than 24 hours later, the Blue Hose will hit the floor again bright and early for a 9:00 a.m. first serve against Fordham before closing the weekend against the hosting Seahawks at 6:00 p.m. later in the evening.
 
GAMEDAY INFO – FRIDAY, AUGUST 25
Presbyterian vs. Stetson – 3:00 PM (Wilmington, N.C.)
LIVE STATS - StatBroadcast
 
GAMEDAY INFO – SATURDAY, AUGUST 26
Presbyterian vs. Fordham – 9:00 AM (Wilmington, N.C.)
LIVE STATS - StatBroadcast
 
Presbyterian at UNC Wilmington – 6:00 PM (Wilmington, N.C.)
WATCH – Flo Volleyball
LIVE STATS - StatBroadcast
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT – STETSON
 
- PC's 17^th season of D-I competition will open with the aforementioned neutral-site duel against Stetson, a Sunshine State foe who posted a 15-14 mark a year ago. Each of Stetson's first nine victories in 2022 came via sweep, drifting to a 6-10 ASUN record after starting 9-3.

- Former NAIA National Player of the Year and Stetson head coach Yang Deng (the program's director for seven seasons) took the Hatters to the conference tournament last November in Nashville, although the result in the first round tilted against them in a five-set defeat at the hands of Liberty.

- After the Blue Hose captured a 3-2 win back in 2009 – the two sides' first of three meetings overall – Stetson took the next two encounters in '15 and '21, coincidentally other neutral-site affairs such as tomorrow's in North Carolina.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT – FORDHAM
 
- Another adversary with a small dosage of history with the Blue Hose, Presbyterian's Saturday morning contest versus Fordham will entail the third all-time meeting between the pair. A tiebreaker will be in order after PC bested the Rams in the opening bout of the '15 season before the opposite result occurred in 2016.

- Fordham and head coach Ian Choi finished the previous campaign with a below .500 mark of 13-16, grabbing all but six of those W's in Atlantic 10 matchups. The Rams concluded the semester on a high note by downing George Mason in back-to-back home matches.

- Traveling south to Wilmington from The Bronx, Fordham put together 12.5 kills per set in 2022 which translated to a .201 attack percentage.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT – UNC WILMINGTON
 
- The caboose for the weekend's trio, Presbyterian will wrap up the tourney by battling the hosting party in a mix that has never happened in PC's D-I past. That first-ever encounter with UNCW will come against a squad looking to bounce back from a 6-19 record 12 months prior.

- All of the Seahawks' wins during the '22 stretch came in five-set form with the exception of their final two against Hampton (both 3-1 final decisions).

- Head coach Dottie Hampton approaches her fourth year in charge of the program, aiming to atone for a 2-9 mark when competing from their home gymnasium in the Tar Heel State.
 
2022 BLUE HOSE RECAP
 
- Benson inherits a Blue Hose core that retained a sizable chunk of last season's production, including Kasey Battle and Anna Baranski who both grabbed weekly honors from the Big South (Player of the Week for the former and Freshman of the Week twice for the latter).

- Five PC competitors logged at least 75 sets played in 2022, led by senior Hailey Grocholski's 106. Backed by a .171 hitting clip, Battle finished the campaign three kills shy of 200 as one of four roster members who will progress through their last season donning the blue and garnet, alongside Grocholski, Kinsey Bailey, and Jordan McAda.

- The Blue Hose strung together a 9-19 performance last fall, with six of those W's coming away from Clinton. Winning two of their final three meetings over UNC Asheville and Winthrop at the Templeton Center, PC comes into 2023 needing just 12 more wins to reach the century mark since joining the D-I ranks.