With 10 players and all five starters returning from a squad that went 18-12 last season with seven of the losses coming by six points or less, there is much reason for the excited optimism being shown by the coaching staff and the players as the new season gets set to unfold.

"Obviously with so many returning players and all of our starters back, we have high expectations for this season,” said MVNU coach Steve Gregory, who will enter his eleventh season with a 132-164 overall record at his alma mater. "With the addition of three talented freshmen who bring more size, shooting ability, ball-handling, and speed to the equation, it is easy to see why I am so excited about this group of kids and the upcoming season.”

Five seniors - the most Gregory has ever had on any of his teams - will lead the way for MVNU. Point guard Rachel Fiely will return to run the offense after having an outstanding junior season in which she averaged 13.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in earning American Mideast Conference Second Team and National Christian College Athletic Association Honorable Mention All-American accolades. She also became the 19th player in school history to top 1,000 career points and needs just six assists to become the program’s all-time leader in that category.

Senior post Melissa Mastrodonato returns after starting 25 games last year and averaging 8.6 points and 4.9 rebounds, while senior guard Jessica Lynn started all 28 games that she played in and averaged 5.9 points and 2.7 rebounds. Senior guard Ashley Brown added 4.2 points and 4.1 rebounds while starting the final 12 games of the year after returning from injury, and senior wing Bethany Hughes averaged 2.4 points and 2.2 rebounds while playing in all 30 games with two starts.

Sophomore center Amanda Himes returns after bursting on the scene with a great first collegiate season. She led the team in scoring (16.8 points), rebounding (8.3 boards), blocked shots (28), and field goal percentage (.499) as she was named the AMC South Division Freshman of the Year and selected to the AMC South Division First Team and the NCCAA All-American Second Team. She also set a school record by making 201 field goals on the year.

Sophomore forward Kellie Jokela will look to build on a solid rookie campaign in which she started all 30 games and averaged 5.6 points and 6.3 rebounds. Sophomore guard Lauren Johnson also added 5.7 points and 72 assists while playing in all 30 games off the bench. Junior guard Lindsay Stein (1.8 points) and sophomore Kim BeVier (2.8 points) round out the returning players.

Joining the returning players will be three freshmen who are ready for the challenge of college basketball. Alexis Harkins, a guard/forward from Northwest High School, will look to make an immediate impact just like Himes did a year ago, while guard Gabby Fowler brings experience gained from playing on three state championship teams at Hiland High School. Ashley Jessie, a guard from Millikan High School in Long Beach, Calif., rounds out the roster that should have plenty of depth.

"When you return the reigning freshman of the year in your conference at center (Amanda Himes) and you have one of the premier point guards in the country returning for her senior season (Rachel Fiely), you cannot help but get a little excited,” said Gregory. "This is a team with veteran leadership, a winning team (18-12 last year), an athletic team that can run and gun, and a team that gave up just 62 points per game in conference and 59 points per game overall last year. This is the most talented team from top to bottom that I have had in my 11 years here as head coach. I think we will be a much improved perimeter shooting team this season, and hopefully a much more intelligent team with growing another year older together.”

The Lady Cougars will get the 2008-2009 season under way on November 14 when the team will host Ohio Dominican University in the annual Homecoming game at 6:00 p.m. The team will also play non-conference games against the University of Northwestern Ohio, Defiance College (both home and away), Wilberforce University, Kenyon College, the University of Cincinnati-Clermont, and Cedarville University. In addition, MVNU will travel to three tournaments - the Bluffton College Tournament, the Trinity International (Ill.) University Classic, and the Ohio Dominican Classic.

The Lady Cougars will also compete for the American Mideast Conference title where the team was picked to finish seventh out of 16 teams in the preseason poll of the conference coaches. The format will be different than in previous years as there will no longer be a North and South Division and each team will play each other only once in conference play. The top two teams in the regular-season standings will earn an automatic berth into the NAIA Division II National Tournament, while a third automatic berth will go to the AMC Tournament champion. No. 5 Shawnee State University, No. 17 Daemen (N.Y.) College, and No. 21 Notre Dame College are all ranked in the NAIA Division II preseason poll, while Cedarville, Ohio Dominican, and the University of Rio Grande each received votes.