FAIRHOPE—Mary Laubenthal begins her second season as head volleyball coach and athletic director for girls sports at Fairhope Thursday.

The Lady Pirates have a boat load of experienced seniors and Laubenthal said they and their underclassmen teammates are all ready to get under way.

“I’m excited about this season,” She said. “They are not only seniors, but each of them were starters last year. If not every game, nearly every game. We have had a good summer, too, and I think that will show.”

Laubenthal took many on the team to a summer tournament in Orlando, Fla., over the break and got some valuable experience and simply added some quality time together as a team.”

“We got to play a lot of volleyball, everybody got a lot of court time and most of all we had a lot of team bonding going on,” she said. “That’s just so important. There are going to be some tough times ahead, every team has ups and downs, but that experience is going to help us a lot. Traveling together, living together like that really helps everyone adjust to each other.”

Claire Chapman, Lauren Donahue, Sadie May, Linde Stejskal and Brittany Street make up her five-senior corps and each adds a unique talent in their own way.

“I can’t distinguish between them in terms of leadership. Each one is a leader. They each bring their own special skill, some strength to the table,” she said. “Where one is weak, another is strong. Where one is lacking another is there to take up support. They support and they complement each other so well.”

Also returning with considerable varsity experience will be junior Emily Miller and sophomore Victoria Roszkowski with Samantha Davis, Jenny Frego and Ruth Schambeau rounding out the 2007 varsity squad.

Laubenthal is also pleased with overall attitude as well as team work and response to some straight-forward goals.

“In terms of goals, we obviously want to win our area and we want to keep winning and building and make it to the Elite Eight. But I’ve been stressing that to do that we have to be, not just better physically, but mentally. That’s what I want — I want us to be mentally stronger and tougher. That’s what it’s going to take. And at this point I’m pleased with how they are doing.”

The Lady Pirates start the season Thursday on the road against the Lady Leopards at Mobile Christian School in Cottage Hill. Then play in the Capitol City Classic tournament in Montgomery over the weekend.