LAGRANGE, Ga. – The LaGrange College beach volleyball team will kick off their seventh season on Friday and Saturday when travel to Truett-McConnell University for the TMU Tournament.

The Panthers are expected to take a major step up under third-year coach Daniel Schulte, as a young but talented team looks to make their mark.

"This group of talented young student-athletes is going to continue to raise the bar for the excellence in the sport as we build a positive peer championship culture here in LaGrange." Coach Schulte said of program.

Leading the team are sophomore team captains Julia Damico (North Port, Fla.) and Kaitlin Gilchrist (Pelham, Ala.) as well as sophomore Isabella Zentkovich (Sharpsburg, Ga.), the only three returners from last season's squad.

Among the top newcomers are freshmen Alex Krabs (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Kaitlyn Smith (Buckeye, Ariz.), who both earned Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) All-Conference honors with the indoor team earlier this year. Sophomore transfer Akajah Burton (West Valley City, Utah) is also expected to have an immediate impact.

The Panthers will compete against their natural rivals in the Hawks of Huntingdon College on Thursday, February 19^th when they travel down Interstate-85 for the Huntingdon College Tournament. They will play the Hawks again on March 18^th when they compete in Montgomery in a tri-match.

LC opens their home season on March 25^th when they host Truett McConnell at the LC Beach Complex.

For continuing coverage of LaGrange College Athletics, visit lagrangepanthers.com and follow the Panthers on Instagram ( @lagrange_panthers ), Twitter ( @lcpanthers ) and Facebook ( LaGrange Panthers ).