Monday marked the first day of school for college students at Jefferson Davis Community College, but it was also the two-week mark until the Lady Warhawk volleyball team will begin their season.

JDCC head coach Misti Nims has 10 returning players from last season coming back. Returning for JDCC will be Kiki Youngblood, Tara Gafford, Jenny Daniels, Tori Bracewell, Nyia Underwood, Amber Huskey, Arissa Bray, Amber McMillan, Sarah Litteken and Shelby Weidenhamer. Incoming freshmen for JDCC this season will be Kayla White, Liz McCrary, and Morgan McCullough.

“Volleyball practice has started off with a bang,” Nims said. “We had two weeks of two to three sessions a day and the girls responded well. Their running times and strength has improved. We have been doing a lot of scrimmaging with a new offense and a serve reception schemes.”

Nims said there have been a few players that have shown improvements in recent practices.

“Our freshman setter, Kayla White, has hit the ground running and has shown great leadership qualities,” she said. “We also had to make some adjustments with middle blocker since we lost one player. Tara Gafford from Flomaton has made the transition well and her opposite, Kiki Youngblood, will provide much needed support with running a quick tempo. As far as other players, they are all still battling for starting roles. We should see just about everyone play during our opening week and then start narrowing down a starting six to eight players before we get into conference.”

The 2012 volleyball team for Jefferson Davis Community College will tip off their season Monday, Aug. 27 with a home game at 6 p.m.

The schedule for JDCC this season shows 20 total games and three tournaments. JDCC will play 10 home games and 10 away games with tournaments scheduled to be played at Pensacola State, Lawson and Wallace State.

JDCC will have 14 conference games against seven conference foes. Conference opponents for JDCC this year include Wallace State, Snead, Faulkner, Lawson, Southern Union, Gadsden and Wallace-Selma.

Here is the complete schedule for JDCC volleyball this season:
Monday, Aug. 27, University of Mobile-JV, Home, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 28, Gulf Coast, Home, 6 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, Aug. 31-Sept. 1, Pensacola State College Tournament, Away, TBA
Tuesday, Sept. 4, Pensacola State College, Away, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 6, Wallace State, Home, 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 11, Gulf Coast, Away, 6 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 14, Sneads State, Home, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 15, Lawson State Tournament, Away, TBA
Tuesday, Sept. 18, Faulkner State, Away, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 20, University of Mobile-JV, Away, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 25, Pensacola State College, Home, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 26, Lawson State, Away, 6 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 28, Southern Union, Home, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 2, Gadsden State, Away, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 2, Sneads State, Away, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 4, Gadsden State, Home, 6 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 8, Faulkner State, Home, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 10, Wallace-Selma, Away, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 16, Wallace-Selma, Home, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 18, Wallace State, Away, 6 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, Oct. 19-20, Wallace State Tournament, Away, TBA
Tuesday, Oct. 23, Lawson State, Home, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 25, Southern Union, Away, 6:30 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, Nov. 2-3, Region Tournament, TBA, TBA