A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

October 15^th nears closer and closer as we get ready for our first official practice of the 2010-2011 season. The guys have been working extremely hard in the weight room and in individuals to prepare themselves for the first practice. We have been battling a few minor injuries, but nothing that our athletic trainer Chris Dane cannot handle. Chris is the assistant athletic trainer at WT, and has been great with our team. He works extremely hard to help our players prevent injury, and also assists our players to make a speedy recovery if they do get injured. He has been a tremendous asset to our program over the last couple of years!

Our schedule has been finalized for the 2010-2011 season, and is posted on gobuffsgo.com. We are very excited about opening up our season with the South Central Shootout in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in a conference challenge with teams participating from the Lone Star Conference, MIAA, and the Heartland Conference. We will open the year up against Emporia of the MIAA and Newman of the Heartland Conference. We feel our non-conference schedule will be very challenging, but will help get our team prepared for LSC South competition.

I would also like to congratulate Bijan Dotson who played for us over the past two seasons. He recently signed a contract to continue his career professionally in Germany. It is a great opportunity for him and we wish him the best!

The Buff Facts - Lady Buff Report (Volleyball 2.0)

GoBuffsGo.com is proud to bring you, “The WT Lady Buff Report”. Each week the West Texas A&M Athletics Media Relations staff will sit down with coaches and student-athletes for an insight into the Lady Buffs Volleyball program. This gives you, the fans, a chance to get to know your Lady Buffs.

This week we sat down with Lady Buff Volleyball Players Erika Dupree, Lauren Beville and Teresa Dunn for an exclusive Q&A session.

Erika Dupree
Junior, English education major
Setter/Outside Hitter
Mesquite, Texas

Lauren Beville
Sophomore, sports & exercise sciences major
Libero
Hereford, Texas

Teresa Dunn
Senior, broadcast journalism major
Setter
Arlingon, Texas

What is your favorite food?
ED - Chicken fried rice
LB - Steak
TD - Steak

What is your favorite book?
ED - "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers
LB - "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne
TD - "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks

What is your favorite web site?
ED - yahoo.com
LB - website.com
TD - epicfail.com

What is your favorite sports team?
ED - English National Soccer team
LB - Dallas Cowboys
TD - Boston Red Sox

Who is your favorite athlete?
ED - Christian Ronaldo
LB - Sarah Carthel and Kobe Bryant
TD - Nelson Cruz

If you could date a Hollywood actor, who would it be?
ED - MECHAD BROOKS
LB - Channing Tatum
TD - Brad Pitt

Can you name a poster that you had on your wall when you were growing up?
ED - John Cena
LB - I did not have posters.
TD - N'Sync

If you could play another sport in college, what would it be?
ED - Soccer
LB - Basketball
TD - Golf

How many songs are on your iPod/MP3 player?
ED - over 2000
LB - 450
TD - over 2000

What is your worst habit?
ED - I talk too much
LB - Biting my nails
TD - Biting my nails

What made you choose West Texas A&M?
ED - Because of the girls on the team and it was a winning program.
LB - I like the girls on the team and I felt that it was a sign from God.
TD - I wanted to win.

In ten years, I will be...?
ED - Teaching high school English and coaching.
LB - Teaching and coaching.
TD - A sports broadcaster on ESPN.

VOLLEYBALL UPDATE

Greetings. VB has completed 2 weeks of pre-conference tournaments and 1 conference weekend. Currently, we are 6-4 and, most importantly, 2-0 in conferece.

We have played a very strong schedule which will benefit us the remainder of the Season. We have played 4 nationally ranked opponents, 3 in the top-10. Further, all of our region matches have been against opponents ranked in the top-12 (regionally) last season.

As the season progresses we are learning more about our team. The ability is there. We have flashes of brilliance. We need to become more consistent and eliminate errors. This will come with time. This is what happens when you have multiple players stepping in from a 'sub' role to a 'starter' role. It is a different mentality.

A great positive is that our players are learning to fight for everything. Nothing is coming easy this season. This will harden their resolve as we near the post-season and pay off if we get in a tight situation which happens in the playoffs.

This week we play Wayland Baptist, Southwest OK and UCO. All matches present certain challenges. The UCO match is critical as they are 2-0 in conference and they have beaten the same regional teams as us. The two LSC matches will be away.

The following weekend we will travel to Joplin, MO for very important regional matches: Newman, Pitt State, Ark-Fort Smith and UCM. These matches will be critical for us in our regional rankings that will come out shortly after. Wish us luck!

Big Weekend Ahead for WT Athletics... And It Begins Tonight!

A ton of action going on this weekend around Buff and Lady Buff Athletics.

We have both cross country teams heading to Lubbock tomorrow evening to compete in their first meet of the season. So, good luck to those ladies and the guys. I know both coach Sweetgall and coach Dudley have just been anxiously waiting for this day to get here. Well, it's here! Have a great meet.

Volleyball will host Texas Woman's at 1 p.m. on Saturday. It is Dig Pink weekend and the entire Lady Buff volleyball program will be on hand, proudly showing their support for Breast Cancer awareness. A pretty good high school match will be played before the Lady Buffs take the court, as Canyon High and Randall High will meet each other at "The Box". Should be a great day of volleyball for all to enjoy.

Once you leave the fieldhouse, just head straight towards Kimbrough Memorial and put your tailgating hat on, because a few hours later it will be kickoff time for the Buffs' first home game of the season. Coach Carthel and the entire Buff team are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to play in from of the home crowd - finally. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

But... I know, how could there be more? Well, I did tease the fact that the big weekend actually starts tonight. And it does in a big way as the Lady Buff volleyball team returns home to "The Box" to host Texas A&M-Commerce tonight in the team's first Lone Star Conference match of the season. They will do so with a piece of history on the line - the program's 49 consecutive LSC-match winning streak.

WT has won 49 straight matches against an LSC opponent dating back to Nov. 5, 2005. For those of you whom may not know - the seniors on the team last season went through their entire playing career at WT with an unblemished record in conference play. That is pretty amazing in this day and age - no matter what division you are in.

Now, seniors Lauren Thedford and Teresa Dunn will get their opportunity to do the same thing, and it all starts tonight. 7 p.m. at "The Box". Come out and help the Lady Buffs get win No. 50!

Go Buffs. Go Lady Buffs.

Introducing The Buff Facts - Lady Buff Report

GoBuffsGo.com is proud to bring you, “The WT Lady Buff Report”. Each week the West Texas A&M Athletics Media Relations staff will sit down with coaches and student-athletes for an insight into the Lady Buffs Volleyball program. This gives you, the fans, a chance at getting to know your Lady Buffs.

This week we sat down with Sophie McBride, Lauren Thedford and Haleigh Cearley for an exclusive Q&A session.

SOPHIE McBRIDE

Sophomore, general business major

Defensive Specialist

Minneapolis, Minn.

LAUREN THEDFORD

Senior, political science major

Outside Hitter

Carrollton, Texas

HALEIGH CEARLEY

Red-shirt freshman, psychology major

Outside Hitter/Rightside Hitter

Amarillo, Texas

What is your favorite television show?

SM – “The Nanny”

LT – “Gossip Girl”

HC – “River Monsters”

What is your favorite movie?

SM – “This Christmas”

LT – “10 Things I Hate About You”

HC – “Love and Basketball”

What is your favorite song?

SM – “Take You Down” by Chris Brown

LT – “Son’s Gonna Rise” by Citizen Cope

HC – “Shoe Me A Good Time” by Drake

Is your locker – messy or organized?

SM – Very messy

LT – Organized

HC – Very messy

Which one comes first? Study for an exam, then watch TV or watch TV, then study for an exam?

SM – TV, then study for an exam

LT – Study for an exam, then TV

HC – Both, at the same time

What is the weirdest thing that you have ever eaten?

SM – Spaghetti and raisins

LT – Raw eggs

HC – Octopus

What is your guilty pleasure?

SM – Dr. Pepper

LT – Brownie batter

HC – Oreo Cakesters

Who would play you in a Hollywood movie?

SM – Jessica Alba

LT – Jennifer Garner

HC – Cameron Diaz

What is something that a lot of people may not know about you?

SM – I used to be in the circus.

LT – I speak Spanish, almost fluently.

HC – I want to be a pastry chef.

What made you choose West Texas A&M?

SM – I wanted to get away from home.

LT – I wanted to win.

HC – Volleyball and being able to stay close to home.

What do you want to be doing 10 years from now?

SM – I want to live in a big city and have my own business.

LT – I want to be doing some kind of International Law, all over the world.

HC – I want to be out of Amarillo.

A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

We have concluded the first week of classes and the guys are adjusting to having a regular routine to follow each day. This past weekend the Buff Basketball team, along with other programs on campus, helped with the 2010 Buffalo Club Golf Classic. We would like to give a special thanks to everyone that helped sponsor our hole at the Classic. It was a great chance for our program to get to meet and catch up with many familiar faces that are involved with our program.

This week also started our first week of weights and conditioning. Our weights and conditioning workouts are administered by Coach Taylor Strube. Coach Strube is the assistant strength and conditioning coach at WT, and is a great addition to our program and athletic department. He is doing a great job with these young men, and I am excited to watch them improve over the next several weeks.

This next week marks the first week in which we will begin to conduct our individual workouts. We will concentrate on refining and improving individual skills, and also begin teaching our basketball philosophy. Our staff works especially hard to teach what we will be doing offensively and defensively in the upcoming year to make the transition to full practice on October 15^th a lot easier.

I have been very pleased with the excitement and energy that this team has showed up to this point. Our goal is to continue to improve each day. The team that does that usually plays the longest.

GAMEDAY

It's finally here. That day we have all been waiting for... All 271 of them.

West Texas A&M Football kicks off the 2010 campaign in just under nine hours Canyon time. Are you excited?

I think we all are. There is a buzz all around campus and the town as well. Buffalo Football is here.

The Buffs will take on Grand Valley State tonight - The No. 2 team in the nation. The Buffs entered the preseason ranked No. 11 in the nation, and without even playing a game, WT moved up three spots to No. 8 in the latest poll released this week.

Talk about a match-up. Two top-ten programs. Both going at it in Week One. And in front of a nationally televised audience. It doesn't get any better than this.

(Dave Henry of the Amarillo Globe News had a great article this morning about big time DII match-ups early in the season.)

That's right people. Gameday is finally here. Buckle-up your chin straps... It's going to be a great season.