Demorest, GA -- Fresh off a championship performance in 2010, the Piedmont College volleyball program is looking for back-to-back Great South Athletic Conference championships for the first time ever. Head Volleyball Coach Sid Feldman is one of those hoping for such an outcome but knows that's not as easy as it may sound.

“Having won the conference, we realize every team in the league will be gunning for us,” said Feldman of his team's chances at repeating. “Both Maryville and Huntingdon were tough teams against us last season in the championship tournament and have the talent and leadership needed to win on any given day. We will need to play at our very best each and every conference match to ensure success.”

Coming back to help make that dream a reality will be 2010 GSAC Freshman of the Year in Katheryn Knarr who joins teammate and last year's Libero of the Year Paige Eslinger in a positive outlook to the 2011 season.

“We are really excited to see if we can start off strong as a team despite a tough opening schedule,” said Eslinger of the upcoming opening weekend. “I think all of us are really looking forward to the challenge of being the top team throughout the whole season.”

With preseason in full swing around the campus at PC, the buzz surrounding the Lady Lion volleyball team is no surprise as the program looks to continue its current streak of 20 or more wins in a season with their seventh such campaign this fall. However, that milestone may come along with one for their head coach as well as Feldman could secure his legend in volleyball lore with a 400th career win.

“I was made aware of that possibility just a few weeks ago, so my planning really will not change much,” stated Feldman who needs 18 more wins to reach 400. “If it happens, so much for the better but it's not about me. This history of success has been because I had the opportunity to coach some great student-athletes throughout the years.”

Feldman's team-first mentality seems to have sunk into his players' minds as well given their lack of reliance on just a single hitter at the net. Last season, the Lady Lions had six different hitters tally at least 124 kills with not a single hitter putting down more than 285 displaying a great deal of balance at the net.

The squad returns four of those six to this year's bunch including seniors Rachel Powell and Erin Krause who come into the season with hopes of ending their Lady Lion careers the way no other senior class has on the volleyball court – with a pair of back-to-back conference championships.

“We're definitely not satisfied with having won the GSAC tournament last year and, since we're hosting the conference tournament this year as well, we want to be able to win a title in front of our home fans,” said Powell of her team's chance to get two in a row. “Our freshman class looks really good in practice so far, our coaches did a great job of recruiting more talent to the program. I think everyone is really hungry for another trip to the NCAA National Tournament, but we got to keep working hard to get there.”

That hunger may be satisfied as the Lady Lions face a tough 2011 slate including a rematch from last year's NCAA National Tournament with Emory University on the Eagles' home floor midway through the season. The squad officially kicks off the fall season with a road test against local rival Toccoa Falls College on Thursday, September 1st in primetime at 7:00 pm.