By Quinlan Hughes |Sports writerAugusta University volleyball coach Sharon Quarles and her team are working hard for the upcoming season.This will be Quarles' 11th year as the volleyball coach at AU, and she has brought the Jaguars to the point where she expects the team to make the NCAA Division II postseason regional tournament. After winning the Peach Belt Conference Tournament for the first time in school history by beating Georgia College and getting to the first round of Southeast Regionals last season, the Jaguars plan to exceed and go beyond that feat with nine new recruits and seven returning players.“To repeat and succeed,” Quarles said when asked about her expectations for this upcoming season.The top returning players are junior Chloe Allen, who was second team all-PBC selection and also was named to the PBC all-academic team last season, and senior Jessica Hedrick, who made the Peach Belt all-tournament team last fall and also was named to the league's all-academic team. Allen started all 32 matches last season, was second in the PBC in block assists with 91 and third in total blocks at 107. Allen led the Jags in solo blocks with 16. Hedrick led the conference in block assists with 109 and was second in total blocks with 116.Both Allen and Hedrick were named to the preseason all-PBC team, which was selected by the conference's coaches.Nedu Evans, a middle hitter, Juileanne Saliba, a defensive specialist, Samantha Zittrauer, a setter, and Hanna Siefert, an outside hitter, are incoming freshman. Other additions to the Jags' roster are incoming junior transfers Julie Archer, an outside hitter, Kylie Martin, an outside hitter, Nicolette Ramos, an outside hitter, Kassie Till, setter, and sophomore Madison Malloch, who also is an outside hitter.Gone from last season's championship squad is McKenzey Beck, who was all-conference and the PBC Tournament MVP, and Savanna Gonzalez, who led the Jags in kills. However, bringing in three pin hitters that can play six rotations is a first for Quarles in her 11 years working here.The Jaguars open the 2019 campaign at the Queens University Fall Volleyball Classic in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 6-7. Contact Quinlan Hughes at QHUGHES@augusta.edu.