Over the past three years, outside hitters Regan Coughlin and Bailey Mason have been models of consistency for Middle Tennessee State volleyball. During the early afternoon hours in the fall, the sounds of 12 girls shouting out commands to each other while the blue and white ball volleys over the net in the Alumni Memorial Gym are often followed by the laughter of the two seniors that line up on the left side of the formation. The laughs they've shared date back nearly 10 years to their days in downstate Illinois.
During tryouts for the Illini Elite Cardinals club team in Coughlin's hometown of Bloomington, Illinois, the two were placed in the same position group and immediately hit it off.