The PVAMU volleyball team kicks off the 2014 campaign this afternoon versus Grand Canyon at 3 p.m. inside the H&PE Arena on the Texas Southern campus.  The team will play one game this afternoon before returning to play on Saturday with a pair of games at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. against New Orleans and TSU, respectively.

The team has high expectations this fall as they're led by returning All-SWAC performers Candyce Alexander and LaKeisha Allen. Alexander tallied nearly 280 kills last season and 60 total blocks en route to SWAC Newcomer of the Year Honors while Allen was the top defender on the squad last year.  Alexander was named Preseason All-SWAC First Team while Allen was selected to the second team.

As a team, PVAMU was picked second in the SWAC West and will feature a revamped squad which features seven newcomers under head coach Alicia Pete.

"We started off slow at first but by the end of two-a-days, the team began to pick it up as I could see them gelling in terms of communication and defense," she said.  "The newcomers have come in and made a great impact and we're improving daily as a team."