EDWARDSVILLE -- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's volleyball team is playing for the present with a keen eye toward the future.
The Cougars are in Year Two of their transition to NCAA Division I status, which will take place in 2012. SIUE will have a young squad with six freshmen and two transfers, but coach Todd Gober isn't fretting.
"It's actually a good thing for us," Gober said. "Our goal is to get ready for 2012, our first year of eligibility. This year, we're going to be giving players opportunities. What we're playing for is to get ready for that first year of eligibility.
"We're trying to create the necessary work ethic and speed the level of competition for that to take place."
SIUE finished 13-14 last year and went 7-2 in the spring with sweeps of future Ohio Valley Conference foes Tennessee-Martin and Murray State. Another tough schedule awaits.
The Cougars -- who open the 2009 season Aug. 28 against Missouri-Kansas City at the Indiana State University Tournament -- will play seven different OVC schools along with Missouri, St. Louis University and Louisville.
It's an ambitious schedule; SLU is ranked 20th in the country and Louisville is another team receiving votes in the national poll.
"Those are fun experiences for the team, but you don't want to go somewhere and get your brains beat in," Gober said. "That changes from a good experience to a bad taste in your mouth. We're working hard and getting in our heads that yeah, we can compete with everybody, beat a lot of teams and steal some wins here.
"We have very high expectations and are going to get after it. I would like to see us do better than last year, just by a game. Get us one more win. I think that would be a nice progression."
Gober is not going to use youth as an excuse for poor play.
"Once you're in college, you're ready to play," Gober said. "It's a hard-working and very athletic group. We're a much more athletic group and playing higher above the net."
To illustrate his point, Gober said last year, the Cougars had just two players who could leap as high as 9 feet, 7 inches. This year, nine players can jump that high.
One is Jessica Hemann, a 5-foot-10 sophomore middle hitter from Central. Hemann played at Southwestern Illinois College as a freshman, where she was second on the team in kills (242) and first in blocks (118).
"She jumps extremely well and she's very quick," Gober said. "What's going to help her be successful as a Division I middle is her speed and jumping ability. We expect her to grab one of those spots and be an impact player."
Middle hitter is one of SIUE's deepest positions with 5-11 junior Karie Downing, a transfer from Indian Hills Community College, and 6-0 freshmen Brianne Graunke and Kelsey Mosher.
Brittni Birkey, a 6-0 senior, and 6-0 juniors Noelle Franke and Sydney Winslow are SIUE's top returning outside hitters. Junior Diane Schmidlin and 5-10 freshmen Danielle Cushley and Brooke Smith provide depth.
Gober said Smith, a Metro-East Lutheran graduate, has been one of the biggest surprises in the preseason.
"She's a three-sport athlete and didn't have the time to commit to club (volleyball) like a lot of the other players, so she's a little bit behind in the skill development, but she is just a super athlete," he said. "Her learning curve is tremendous. At the beginning of the year, I thought it would take her a year to settle into college volleyball. She's really progressing fast."
SIUE will have a pair of freshmen setters in Jamie Mueller and Sammi Minton, who both hail from Wisconsin. Senior Tiffany Turner and freshman Haley Rosenkranz (Civic Memorial) are the defensive specialists.
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