Women’s volleyball head coach Erin Appleman still hasn’t finalized her roster for this weekend. But for her team, that’s anything but an indication of a lack of talent.

“Every day in practice is a battle,” Appleman said. “We have a lot of competition for starting spots, and we’re excited to see who will step up.”

The Elis will get their chance this weekend when they host Boston College (3-3), Colgate (3-3) and Hofstra (2-4) in the Yale Invitational. In those three games, the Bulldogs are looking to fine-tune an already well-oiled machine.

With the return of six starters and the addition of five freshmen and two junior transfers, the volleyball team is poised to make a run at the Ivy championship.

“We’ve been training very hard,” captain Ally Mendenhall ’09 said. “Now we’re hungry and ready to play.”

As for this weekend, Mendenhall mentioned the possible effects of a rule change in women’s volleyball. This year, sets are played to 25 points, as opposed to 30.

“The rule changes put more pressure on every point. There’s less room for error and a lot of potential for upsets.”