PENDLETON? The sounds of volleyball returned to Mosby Court Friday when the Blue Mountain Community College Timberwolves gave coach Dave Baty his first complete look at what hes got to work with this season.

Entering his fourth year with the T-Wolves, Baty was able to coach players four at a time earlier in the summer but Friday was the first day the entire team could assemble for a true practice as they prepare for the opening of the season on Aug. 31.

We still have a lot of work to do,?he said. We have some pretty tremendous athletes that we were fortunate to recruit and bring here, but still where we feel like we should take them as a group and as a program, that point is a long way from where we are right now.

Baty is wasting no time sorting through the depth chart. Using a system that awards points to players during drills, he already is starting to figure out which lineups work together the best.

Based on those drills, the team was split into an A squad and a B squad for a scrimmage to finish off practice on Friday an exercise in the science of volleyball that will be repeated with each practice session.

The A side took the narrow victory 27-25, evidence of just how competitive the position battles will be over the next two weeks.

We all have a lot of talent,?said sophomore Liz Willingham, who played on the front line for the A?side. It doesnt really matter the age, the experience. All of us have really good talent and it could go either way. I?believe (Baty)?could have many lineups and any day could be different.

Willingham is entering her second season as a middle blocker for the T-Wolves after making the jump from small-school Pilot Rock as a freshman. She spent most of her first year trying to get up to speed with some of her more experienced teammates and said her comfort level on the court is now where it needs to be.

I feel more confident, and my team has made me feel more confident in myself, she said. Its a lot different than last season. Its a different play coming from a little 2A?school to a college level, so theyve helped me a lot.

But Willingham isnt going to pencil herself into the starting lineup yet, as none of the T-Wolves are.

One player that is sure to figure heavily into the rotation, though, is setter Robyn Schirmer.

A junior college All-American as a freshman, Schirmer returns to the T-Wolves after taking last season off to give birth.

She spent Friday running with the B side, but shes excited to get back on the court and do whatever she can to help the team.

Its definitely been a challenge getting back into shape but as soon as I?was cleared by my doctor I was in cross-weight training, she said. The girls helped push me every single day. Now I?think Im in the best shape of my life.

I dont mind being on the B team at all because that just gives me a lot more fire to push the girls that are on the same side with me.

Schirmer passed sets to local products Crystal Schmidt (Hermiston) and Courtney Schumacher-Sweek (Pendleton) on Friday and thinks there will be a lot of skill on display when the T-Wolves take the court this season.

Theres a lot of talent, were excited, she said. Its a little weird to be running like three years older than some of them but I?definitely enjoy the talent we have on the team this year, so Im excited to see how well we progress through the season.

With their first practice down, the T-Wolves are still in the infant stages of a season they hope will end with their return to the top of the NWAACC. Thats only going to last a couple days, though, and soon enough the T-Wolves will go from battling each other to taking on the best the league has to offer.

I still think people will be out for us and that makes me fired up more,?Willingham said. I enjoy people wanting to get up to beat us.

Contact Matt Entrup at mentrup@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0838.