The Lady Cougars are coming off a 22-17 campaign in 2009 that saw the team finish fourth in the American Mideast Conference regular-season standings with a 12-8 mark. Then, MVNU advanced all the way to the championship game of the AMC Tournament before falling to regular-season champion Notre Dame College as the season came to an end. However, despite the loss, the Lady Cougars had gained more valuable experience that will hopefully serve them well this year.

"We have come so close each of the past two years to making it to the NAIA National Tournament,” said MVNU coach Jeana Howald, who enters her 21st season at her alma mater with a 448-343 career mark. "This group is working really hard to improve each day. We have great leadership from our six seniors. Not only are they good players, they are also great people.”

The Lady Cougars return 12 players from last year’s squad including seven position starters led by seniors Caitlin Murphy, Tasha Konkle, and Leslie Banichar, who have played all 121 games over the past three seasons. The big question mark for MVNU, however, as the Lady Cougars enter the new season is the pitching staff, which is relatively unproven at the college level after having graduated the conference Pitcher of the Year in each of the past two years in Kristin Eyerman (2008) and Candace White (2009).

Junior Stephanie Burlew and freshman Jill Wildermuth will lead off the pitching rotation for MVNU heading into the season. Burlew posted a 2-2 record with a 2.53 ERA in 10 starts last year, while Wildermuth was an All-Ohio Second Team pick at Indian Lake High School as a junior and recorded 31 wins and 322 strikeouts over her final two high school seasons. Sophomore Meagan Brookes saw action in 10 games for the Lady Cougars in 2009 and will join the rotation once healthy, and freshman Morgan Coburn and senior Staci Graham give MVNU plenty of pitching options.

"The development of our pitching staff is going to be the key to our season,” said Howald. "We don’t have an experienced pitcher to shoulder the load all by herself this year, but we do have a group of pitchers who are working hard and improving as a group. The biggest thing right now is getting them confidence early in the season.”

Handling the pitching staff behind the plate will be Murphy, who has caught every game the past three years and was an AMC Honorable Mention pick in 2009. She threw out 13 of the 33 runners who tried to steal on her last year while also registering seven pickoffs and no passed balls. At the plate, she batted .333 with a team-high 25 RBI. Freshmen Kayleigh Williams and Kelsey Berryman will serve as her back-ups.

Senior Michelle Gastin returns to play first base after starting all 39 games last season and posting a .342 batting average with 25 RBI and 12 doubles on her way to earning National Christian College Athletic Association Honorable Mention All-American honors. Freshman Kaylee Hewitt, who was an All-State First Team pick at Harbor Light Christian School as a senior, will provide depth at first base.

Sophomore Kristin Kurelic returns to start at second base for the third straight year. She batted .345 last season and scored 15 runs. Meanwhile, Konkle will look to continue her outstanding play at shortstop where she has started for each of the 121 games during her career. She posted a .333 batting average last year with 15 RBI and 23 runs scored as she was named to the AMC Honorable Mention list. She also committed just six errors in 154 fielding chances.

Freshman Loren Thomas appears to be the frontrunner to earn the third base job after being a three-time All-League First Team selection at Madison Plains High School where she set the school’s career RBI record as well as finishing with over 100 career hits. Wildermuth could also see time at third base, while Thomas and Graham could provide depth at any of the infield positions.

MVNU returns three starters in the outfield with Banichar leading the way in centerfield where she has played each of the past 121 games. Last year, she was an AMC Honorable Mention selection after leading the team with a .347 batting average, 19 RBI, 21 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases. Sophomore MacKenzie Shaw will return to start in leftfield after starting every game as a freshman and batting .341 on the way to being named to the AMC Second Team and the AMC All-Freshmen Team. Finally, senior Lauretta Wallace returns in rightfield after batting .276 with 10 RBI last year. Junior Liz Misich, sophomore Jennifer Gulley, Berryman, Williams, and Coburn will all add depth in the outfield.

The Lady Cougars are slated to get their season under way on March 12 when the team will begin its 10-day trip to Clermont, Fla. After 10 games on the annual spring trip against NAIA and NCAA Division II and III teams, MVNU will return north for three straight non-conference doubleheaders against NCAA Division II opponents Ohio Dominican University, Urbana University, and Tiffin University. Other non-conference contests on the schedule will include doubleheaders against the University of Findlay, Taylor (Ind.) University, Kenyon College, Ohio State University-Newark, and another twinbill against Ohio Dominican.

MVNU will also look to compete for the AMC title with eight conference doubleheaders. Defending champion Notre Dame is the preseason favorite and is ranked No. 19 in the NAIA poll. Walsh University, Point Park (Pa.) University, Shawnee State University, Cedarville University, Malone University, Ursuline College, and Carlow (Pa.) University will all provide challenges for the title with the top four teams in the regular-season standings earning a spot in the AMC Tournament with a berth in the NAIA National Tournament on the line.