ORANGEBURG, S.C. – The SC State women's soccer team opens the 2016 season at 4 p.m. on Friday when they host Virginia Military Institute at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. The match will be streamed live on the SC State Athletics YouTube channel.

Head coach Sandra Burris is back for her fourth season with the team. She return 13 players from the 2015 season and welcome eight newcomers for the 2016 campaign.

Leading the returnees is junior midfielder Tierra Pullard who, in 2015, led the team in points (nine) and goals (four). Pullard paces the returnees in assists (four), shots (17) and shots on goal (12). Sophomore midfielder Justine Zepeda also returns after ranking second on the team with seven points and three goals during her freshman debut.

Also returning for this season are seniors Katelyn Kern (goal keeper), Justina Jarema (midfielder), Mary Pierce (forward), Marissa Horton (midfielder) and Alexandra Kidd (defender). Goalkeepers Mahogany Fisher and Taylor Brittingham and midfielder Valery Fernandez-Davila are back to start their junior seasons with the Lady Bulldogs, while sophomores Brandy Vaca (midfielder), Cortney Welch (forward) and Alejandra Gonzalez-Rizo return as well.

Burris welcomes juniors Eva Widstrand (defender/Mountain View Calif.), Victoria Hagan (defender/Reno, Nev.) and Tunrayo Lumpkin (forward/Marietta, Ga.) and freshmen Sophia Thomas (defender/Oxford, Fla.), Jacqueline Beristain (midfielder/Tustin, Calif.), Serena Schwartz (forward/Spring Valley, Calif.), Jamey Thomas (midfielder/Citra, Fla.) and Kaya Mazariego (defender/Placentia, Calif.) to the squad for what hopes to be a successful year.

When asked about the upcoming season, Burris said, "I am very optimistic about the 2016 season. We have put together a very competitive team with the mixture of our eight new players and 13 returnees."

"I feel that we have the support staff that might have been missing in years past", Burris continued. "Our Director of Athletics (Paul Bryant) has raised the standards and expectations of our athletics department, and with that, he has hired top strength and conditioning coaches that have made an immediate impact on our team. We have also added former University of South Carolina soccer player Abby Crider to the program to work specifically with our goalkeepers."

The Lady Bulldogs have a quick turnaround after hosting VMI on Friday. They host UNC Wilmington at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The homestand continues with a 7 p.m. match against USC Upstate on Aug. 26. SC State closes out the month of August in a 1 p.m. contest at Winthrop University.

September features five away matches and just three contests at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. The Lady Bulldogs start the month off at home against Wofford College (Sept. 4), then they play four straight road matches. They compete at Gardner-Webb (Sept. 7), UNC Asheville (Sept. 10), USC Aiken (Sept. 14) and Furman (Sept. 16).

Home matches against East Tennessee State (Sept. 18) and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (Sept. 25) conclude the team's games in Orangeburg for the season.

SC State ends the year with five consecutive away contests at Elon (Sept. 29), Mercer (Oct. 1), Coastal Carolina (Oct. 19), Delaware State (Oct. 20) and Hampton (Oct. 23).

"This year's schedule is probably the toughest that has been played in our team's history and, hopefully, we will be up for the challenge", Burris said. During our opening weekend, we will face an up and coming VMI team and then face UNW Wilmington who advanced to the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament after knocking off South Carolina in the first round. So we will definitely be tested early."

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