The one word that summarizes head coach Deb Zellers' volleyball team is young.
With five graduating seniors, Zellers and her staff entered the offseason knowing they needed a strong freshman class - something they achieved.
"I set our goal to have eight freshmen in this incoming class," Zellers said.
DePauw actually has eleven incoming freshman, nine of which are guaranteed a spot on the team.
"We were kind of shocked when we heard how many freshmen were going to be on the team," junior Tori Bowerman said. "But after summer camp and being together, we're all really excited."
Adding the incoming freshmen to the seven returning players, Zellers is bound to have significant depth at almost every position - young and inexperienced, but it's depth nevertheless.
With the loss of a large senior class, there are holes, the most glaring of which is their lack of a setter. Filling that position was at the top of Zellers's recruiting list.
"We felt the most pressure in recruiting the setter position because we absolutely had to have at least one," Zellers said.
They got one - three to be precise. But that's not the only position freshmen will most likely contribute.
"We will absolutely have freshmen starting for us on the floor next year," Zellers said. "We're on a mission. We may be young, but we're not letting our youth create a ceiling for this team."