The Troy University volleyball team hit the hardwood for the first practice of 2012 Tuesday afternoon.

The Trojans marched all the way to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarter finals in 2011 before ending their season at 16-15.

Head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick is excited to get the new year started.

“We have a lot of experience coming back,” said Kirkpatrick. “We had a really good spring, and have a good group of people returning. Hope is eternal.”

Troy will play in four tournaments prior to starting Sun Belt play. Rivals Alabama State, Florida A&M and Auburn are also on the 2012 schedule.

The Trojans will have quite a bit of youth on their team, with eight freshmen on the roster.

“Eight is a huge number of freshmen,” Kirkpatrick said. “But we knew we needed to add some depth to our roster. By adding more people to the roster, we cut down on some of our “overuse’ injuries.”

Troy will kick off their 2012 campaign in the Benson Hospitality Bulldog Invitational in Athens, GA. Troy will face Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Southern in tournament play, as well as having an exhibition match against the Slovenia national team.