BIDDEFORD — The University of New England volleyball team only graduated three seniors from last season, but boy were those three seniors important to the Nor’easters’ success. To replace that void, UNE brings in a class of six first-year players, to go along with five returning sophomores, to make a young, but talented core.

Not only did UNE head coach Karol L’Heureux lose reigning Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year Angie Brunette as her go-to middle hitter, she also graduated all-conference players in setter Maria Kuehl and libero Kirsta Adie.

Kuehl, a four-year setter who L’Heureux called “one of the best setters UNE has seen,” won’t be replaced by just one player, as L’Heureux will utilize a tandem of two freshmen in Kristen Falcinelli and Brooke Gibbons.

Another first-year player will be looked upon to fill Brunette’s void, though Courtney Lambrese won’t necessarily fill Brunette’s shoes. Lambrese stands at just 5 feet, 8 inches tall ”“ compared to the 6-foot 1 Brunette ”“ but L’Heureux said “she can move” and has a 23-inch vertical leap to make up for her lack of prototypical height for a net player.

Lambrese will have some help at the net from sophomore Grayson Szczepaniak, a 5-foot-11 middle blocker who L’Heureux said is both stronger and faster than she was a year ago during a breakout freshman season.

Nikki Matthewson, who spent her freshman year as a setter and outside hitter, will slide into Adie’s libero role.

Leading the Nor’easters’ young core will be a pair of seniors in Leah Janelle and Rachel McGahie. The duo makes up the entirety of UNE’s returning upperclass, but L’Heureux said she has plenty of trust in the pair’s leadership skills.

L’Heureux said she likes what she’s seen from her team during the preseason, as the group has shown improvement every practice. But L’Heureux said the key has been, and will continue to be, the team mastering the basics of the game.

“We have to have a really, really strong foundation before we get really, really fancy,” she said.

With two new setters, the Nor’easters will rely on a strong defensive game while the game plan and chemistry improves throughout the season. What UNE lacks in experience, L’Heureux said, the team will make up for with hustle.

“I think you’re going to see a very aggressive, upbeat, intense team that’s not going to give up the play,” she said. “The motto is ”˜no ball is going to hit the floor.’”

Luckily for L’Heureux and the Nor’easters, they won’t have to face the majority of the CCC’s best-looking teams until the end of the season. UNE will face Western New England ”“ a team L’Heureux said always gives her team a battle ”“ in its conference home opener, but won’t face Roger Williams, Endicott and Salve Regina until the final week of the season.

Roger Williams is one of the top Division III teams in New England, while Endicott is a perennial conference contender and Salve finished second in the CCC last year.

L’Heureux said she thinks her team, despite its youth, will be right in the mix with that group.

“Those four are the tougher competitors of the program, but I believe we’re going to compete with every single one of them,” said L’Heureux. “And there isn’t any reason why, when it comes time to play them, that if our game is on ”“ anything can happen ”“ I really think we can beat those teams.”

UNE opens its season on Saturday when the Nor’easters host Emerson at 11 a.m. and Newbury at 3 p.m. Conference play begins with a trip to Eastern Nazarene on Sept. 24 before a home date with Roger Williams on Sept. 27.

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.