HUNTSVILLE, Tex. – The eyes of Texas, well, those in the Johnson Coliseum at least, will be upon Bethune-Cookman (and Texas Southern, Drake and Sam Houston as well) as the Lady Wildcats open the 2018 season with three matches at the Sam Houston Invitational this weekend.

Coming of a 12-14 season that included a 9-1 record in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the Lady Wildcats will face SWAC tournament runner-up Texas Southern at 4:30 PM EST (3:30 local) on Friday, then will settle a beef with Drake at 10:30 AM Saturday before meeting host Sam Houston at 7:30 p.m.

B-CU will also travel to Boca Raton, New Orleans and DeLand before settling into conference play September 28 at North Carolina Central.

YOU KNOW DENTON COUNTY WILL BE RIGHT HERE WAITING FOR YOU AND IT'S JUST NOT THE SAME SINCE YOU WENT AWAY: For six members of the travel party, this trip gives them a chance to heed the words of Bowling For Soup and "Come Back To Texas … before you lose your accent and forget about the Lone Star State." Here are the six who have a seat saved at the rodeo:

Head Coach Brittany Williams —Houston
Faith Landreneaux- Carthage
Shayla Eugene- Fort Worth
Delaine Fulton-Manvale
Jordan Jefferson- San Antonio
Ryleigh Taylor- The Colony

LAST TIME B-CU WON SEASON OPENER: 2006 vs. Savannah State (3-0)

LAST TIME B-CU FINISHED OPENING WEEKEND WITH WINNING RECORD: 2006 (Savannah State, The Citadel and South Carolina State).

WILLIAMS IN OPENERS: 0-3

WILLIAMS ON OPENING WEEKEND: 2-8 (Note: Won 2 of first 3 games in 2015, but has lost last 7)

B-CU VS. FIELD: Texas Southern 1-0 (1998),  Drake 0-1 (2016) Sam Houston 0-1 (2016)

MEAC-SWAC CHALLENGE:  This will be the first time BCU has faced a SWAC team since 2009 when the Lady Wildcats compiled a 2-1 record against Alabama State (W3-0), Mississippi Valley State (W3-2) and Alabama A&M (L3-0). BCU's nonconference schedule this year also features games against Jackson State and MEAC Northern Division foes Morgan State and Howard.

PRESEASON HYPE: Sophomores Jefferson and Landreneaux were named to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference Volleyball Team. Both were All-Rookie selections last year.
 
SCOUTING REPORTS:
Texas Southern (16-13 in 2017): The Lady Tigers have made consecutive SWAC title match appearances. Most of the team has returned, including SWAC Preseason Player Of The Year Kirby Anderson.

Drake (23-10 in 2017): The Bulldogs return all but one starter from a team that posted the program's highest win total since 2010.  Cathryn Creek, another Texan, was a pre-season all-conference selection.

Sam Houston (14-16 in 2017): The Bearkats return 12 letter winners, including Taylor Cunningham and Jaclyn Ward.

THING ABOUT TEXAS YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW: Sam Houston was the first President of the Republic of Texas when it was its own nation. He's buried in Huntsville, and there's a 67-foot statue of him on I-45 just south of the city.

WEEKEND COVERAGE: Jordan Smith, sports editor of the Houstonian student newspaper will be helping us out with Friday's opener. Follow our official twitter -- @BCUvolleyball – for all the links to live stats and video as well as pithy in-match comments.