Had Heidi Sunderland beaten her head against the wall when the preseason national volleyball rankings were released, it would have been understandable.

Five of the 14 teams in the NSIC are ranked in the NCAA Divison II top 20 top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul, No. 8 Minnesota-Duluth, No. 12 Southwest Minnesota State, No. 19 MSU-Mankato and No. 20 Augustana. C-SP enters the season as the defending national champs.

That in itself makes the U-Mary schedule demanding. Add in matches with Truman (No. 3), Emporia State (No. 11), Nebraska-Kearney (No. 14) and Hawaii-Hilo (received votes) and Sunderland has plenty of reasons to chew on aspirin.

"If you can compete with the top half of the teams (in the NSIC), you can compete nationally," Sunderland said. "When people come watch our games, they will see the elite teams in the nation."

U-Mary libero Kendra Hobbs likes the idea of the NSIC expanding to 14 teams with Minnesota-Duluth, MSU-Mankato, St. Cloud State and Augustana joining the conference.

Hobbs grew up in Oakdale, Minn., a suburb of St. Paul. She has competed with or against a lot of the Minnesota players in the NSIC.

"I'm excited to see their faces and to play against them," said Hobbs, a sophomore. "I'm excited to have the new teams come in. It will be great competition."

Hobbs is one player Sunderland is happy to go to battle with. In U-Mary's system, the libero handles about 45 percent of the balls off the serve receive.

"A libero is kind of a spark plug person," Sunderland said. "They have to be aggressive, stable, steady and outgoing," Sunderland said. "Kendra is very vocal, and that's her job."

What impresses Sunderland the most about Hobbs is her volleyball IQ. Hobbs' dad is an assistant varsity coach at Tartan High School in Oakdale. He has also coached club volleyball.

Hobbs played Elite Club volleyball in Minnesota for seven years.

"I use her as another coach on the floor," Sunderland said. "There's a lot of opportunity for her to make changes, like if the block isn't closed or a player hits to a certain area. She knows the game well enough where she can make changes on her own. She doesn't wear her emotions if she's frustrated."

Hobbs, a nursing major, led last season's 12-14 Marauders with 451 digs. The Marauders are tied with Bemidji State to finish 11th in the NSIC preseason poll.

U-Mary lost its top two hitters from last season Ashley Maas (323 kills) and Tatiani dos Santos (314). Laci Murtha enters the season as U-Mary's top hitter. The middle hitter put down 239 kills last season.

"She's the fastest middle," Sunderland said. "I've never had a player who transitions so well. The setters love her because she is always in a position to hit the ball."

The Marauders also lost their top setter Kristin Collins (1,088 assists).

Sunderland is looking toward Kelsey Hennessy and Anna Silha to run the show. However, Sunderland hasn't decided if U-Mary will run a 5-1 or a 6-2 offense.