JACKSON - For Head Volleyball Coach Jaime Fisher, this senior class means a lot to her.

"The seniors are my initial recruiting class," said Fisher. "They've been with me since day one and have really bought into everything I've taught them and eveything we've done with this program."

To her, there is no better way for her first senior class to go out then with a conference championship.

"For them to lead the way and accomplish this as a team would be awesome," adds Fisher. "We'd love to have Millsaps as the inaugural champion in the record books."

Millsaps comes off a terrific 22-13 season where they finished fourth at the SCAC Tournament, their highest finish in over a decade. After only losing one starter to graduation, the Majors are primed to make a run for the Southern Athletic Association Championship and are favored by many to come out on top. Despite the elevated pressure, the seniors welcome the challenge.

"It's a new feeling for us, but we love the pressure and it just makes us work harder," said senior Raven Scott. "We relish the challenge and we have a great group who will step up to the challenge when presented to us."

Senior Kasey Laird adds, "I think the pressure is a good thing and I think that driving force of us knowing that we can win this thing is what's making us work harder in practice."

Scott returns after a fantastic all-around seaosn which earned her First Team All-SCAC honors. She picked up 299 kills, 672 sets, and 353 digs. Laird also returns after earning Third Team All-SCAC honors and leading the team with 343 kills to go along with 341 digs. Both ladies are on the verge of to joing the elusive 1,000-1,000 Club for 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.

Rounding out the senior class is Sarah Zito, who returns to the starting role with 161 kills from a season ago, and Claire Aime, who will provide a spark off the bench.

Their teammate praises the four seniors for their leadership on and off the court.

"The leadership on the court with our four seniors was a huge help to me during my freshman year," says sophomore Taylor Zeigler after a stellar first year with the program. 

Millsaps does welcome back one junior in Casey Brown who looks to provide a spark for the Majors defensively.

The team brings a big sophomore class back beginning with Zeigler. She came through with an impressive 634 assists in her rookie season while starting every game in 2011. 

Zeigler sees improvement in her future with the experience she gained.

"Coach (Fisher) had me well prepared for what's to come in my first year," says Zeigler. "But knowing what I'm going up against this season will definitely be a big help."

Joining Zeigler will be sophomores Caroline McKey and Christina Tilton, who each saw time on the floor as freshman. They also bring back Kelley Calandro and Payton Mansell who look to impact the Majors in 2012.

Millsaps also welcomes in seven new freshman who can benefit the team this season. 

"Our freshman class brings a lot of energy and talent to the gym which helps everyone compete and get better," says Scott. "But they are also going to have to step up and contribute, we didn't just bring freshman in to sit to the side and wait their turn."

Fisher goes on to add, "We are going to need a few of them to step in right away and they will play a big role in pushing our upperclassman to be better and adding to what we've already created."

The Majors made it very clear that they have one specific team goal in mind and that's to win a confernce championship in 2012.

"We have the talent to win," says Laird. "We are going to have to play as a team and trust our game and if we do play our game, 99 percent of the time we will win."

And for the seniors, the goal of raising their first conference championship banner has them ready to make a statement and keep Millsaps Volleyball going in the right direction.

"We live for the day that we hang our banner," explains Scott. "We are also Coach Fisher's first class so we want to be the one's to hang that banner and start a tradition for her."

Laird adds, "This program really took off our freshman year, the juniors that year really started to change the face of Millsaps Volleyball and we worked during our four years to continually do that and it would be great for our program and the college to say Millsaps Volleyball has made history."

The Majors open things up at 2:30 on August 31st against Spelman College in The Hangar Dome.