Not all McNeese State athletic teams are making the same big splash.

The Cowgirl volleyball squad has quietly become a contender with small waves of success.

Last season, under first-year coach Sasha Karelov, McNeese battled until the final day before falling short of a Southland Conference title.

This season, there will be no surprising anybody for the Cowgirls.

“There will be higher expectations for us,” said Karelov. “It will be interesting to see how we handle those.”

Just like last season, there will be a lot of new pieces to the McNeese puzzle when the Cowgirls open play against Coppin State in the Auburn Tiger Invitational on Aug. 25.

Only five players return from last year’s squad, though four of them had a lot of playing time with three being starters. Karelov was forced to replace seven seniors from last year’s club.

“We are really quite similar to last year, with a lot of new players coming in,” said Karelov. “We will spend a lot of time early getting to know one another, to build chemistry and becoming a team.

“I really does feel a lot like last season in that way. I feel like I’m back in my first year at times.”

That might be a good thing when you consider the Cowgirls finished 18-16 overall and 13-5 in the Southland Conference.

But they won’t be able to sneak up on anybody this fall.

“When you have a good season it does put some extra pressure on you,” said Karelov. “With so many new players we have to understand it will take some time, that we are not the same team. We do have to take it one game at a time.”

One good thing the Cowgirls have is of those returning there is talent.

Junior Bailey Tillman was recently named the 2023 Louisiana Sports Writers Associated Libero Of the Year.

Sophomore middle blocker Sanni Rantanen (second team) is also back after earning LSWA honors.

Karelov said that the big difference between the two seasons is who came into the program.

Last year she said he went with a lot of one-and-doners from the transfer portal.

This time she went younger.

Two players mentioned as key additions were both outside hitters.

Karelov said both Carissa Chalney, a transfer from Feather River College in Middleton, Idaho, and freshman Tshilanda Diouf from France are expected to contribute early.

“Both are very athletic and can really hit,” said Karelov. “I think we will have a very dynamic team.

“We recruited differently this year. I’m excited that we are building for the future. It is exciting to have the girls for more than one offseason.”