UT Arlington will open the 2015 campaign Friday without some of its most impactful starters and leaders after graduation. However, the fairly young team has already taken the initiative to fill those missing positions and redefine its identity.

"Our team personality is going to be different this year because of those three main starters that left," senior libero Caitlyn Cooney said. "There's positions to be filled and places for people to step in. If you ever watched Ashley Bennett play, she's very passionate and she wasn't a person with big stat numbers, but she came out and she was passionate when she played all the time. We have Zhanelle Geathers that can fill that role and Marisah Ingram is still new to all of us. Marisah is going to have to step in and play as well. Right now, we've been playing just each other, so when we get out and play different competition, we'll see how competitive and energized we are and how much we all love this sport."

UTA will host the Maverick Classic Friday at the College Park Center with a match against Campbell at 7 p.m. The two-day tournament continues Saturday when the Mavs take on Grambling St. at 1:30 p.m. and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m.

UTA and Campbell will meet for the first time, while Grambling St. and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi were last seen in Arlington in 2013.

The Mavs are 2-0 all time against the Tigers and have a more substantial 14-3 lead in the series versus the Islanders.

The squad said goodbye to Ashley Bennett, Taylor Story, Amanda Welsh and Taylor Story after faltering to UALR in the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals, but not before they carried the Mavericks to a 25-9 mark, their best winning percentage since 2006 with the longest winning streak since 2002.

The Mavericks' leading blocker and 2014 Sun Belt All-Conference first-team selection, Briana Sharratt, will also miss a spot on the roster due to an injury that sidelined her in the spring.

Cooney said just like any other incoming freshman class, it's taken time for the new players to adjust to the intensity of collegiate volleyball and its required work ethic. The Houston native netted the eighth-most digs in the nation and lifted UTA to the NCAA's third-best digs per set performance last year.

"They have to do just a bit more and it takes three to four days to get them situated with that and then they begin to make big improvements," UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. "Obviously, get some experience for some people even though we have five seniors on our roster, we are going to be relatively young in a lot of positions. A lot of the preseason is set up to have some tough situations."

Sophomore outside hitter Qiana Canete, who was in the class' shoes just last year, is also stepping up as a team leader after a breakout season that included 376 kills and a conference freshman-high 18 double-doubles.

A Preseason All-Sun Belt Team selection, Canete said she's carrying over an improved mental game in which she has learned to sit aside pressure and expectation on the court.

Season and single-game tickets are available for purchase at UTATickets.com or by calling 817-272-9595.