Lady Tigers make season debut Thursday against Kuna

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers open their 2012 volleyball season at home Thursday night against Kuna.

Steven Mau takes over as head coach of the Lady Tigers, moving up from the sophomore team. He indicated they had a good turnout for volleyball.

"The turnout was pretty good for tryouts -- we had enough to field 12 for each team."

Mau said the varsity squad lost a bunch of good seniors, but he's happy with the girls he has back.

"It was pretty damaging with those seniors leaving us last year, but we've got a good core group of girls coming back that weren't getting as much playing time as the girls that we lost, but we should have a good group, and I'm very optimistic about the season."

Coach Mau says the fans can expect to see a different brand of volleyball this season.

"Yes, I think the fans can expect to see a whole revamped program from here on out. My offense is going to be completely different, my defense is kind of off the wall out of my hip pocket, so it should be exciting."

Coach Mau has no clue who to expect to be the contenders in the conference race this year.

"I have absolutely no idea. I was sophomore coach last year, so I obviously didn't pay too much attention to the varsity side."

The Lady Tigers had a jamboree at Caldwell on Tuesday and open at home on Thursday against Kuna. They go to Kuna on Friday and Saturday for a tournament.