Middle Tennessee women???s basketball standout and Double-A Zone guest blogger Chrissy Givens was named Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year on Monday. Chrissy shares some thoughts about the team???s first week of practice and the November 10 opener when the Blue Raiders will host defending national champion Maryland.

Well, it has officially started. We are back on the hardwood and ready to go. The anticipation for the first practice was almost unbearable. I have been waiting since the Utah loss to get a chance to start working together as a team.

After this past weekend, I am even more confident that we have a legitimate chance of contending with the national champs [Maryland]. I feel we are further along now than we were last year, especially physically.

The team did not get a chance to take off and relax on fall break like our fellow classmates. We practiced once on Friday and Saturday and on Sunday we practiced and lifted weights. Monday and Tuesday we had two practices. Yes, it was inconvenient to have to miss fall break and get up at 6 a.m. with no class, but in the words of Coach [Rick] Insell ???Success is built on inconvenience.??? Those words played through my mind each time I felt too sleepy to get up in the morning. Most people would think that it was a bad thing. For me, I would not want to be anywhere else but on the hardwood with my teammates.

Well I???m sure everyone is anxious to know how the team looks. Things are going a lot better than I expected. I guess it???s because now we know what Coach Insell wants and the returning players are able to help the new players along. Coach Insell does not have to stop and teach so we are able to get more things done as compared to last year.

I would have to say that our freshmen are doing well. They are going to add several things to our team. Yes, they mess up, but they continue to hustle and try to do everything they possibly can to catch up and be contributing factors to our team.

The fight and the heart are there. We may not be as big as most teams, but you cannot measure heart, and that???s what we have, a lot of heart. The older girls have come back it seems with a vengeance. Everyone is more vocal than last year.

Coach Insell used to get on us about certain things, but now we are getting on each other, which shows how we are growing as a team and learning what he wants. Things are a long way from perfect but as long as we keep trying and hustling, everything will turn out like we want it.

With one week of practice under our belt, I would have to say that the Nov. 10 meeting with Maryland is not coming fast enough. I am excited about our team and the time and effort our coaching staff is putting into this program. It is going to be an exciting season. So far everyone is headed in the right direction. From coaching staff on down, we realize and understand where we are trying to take this program, and everyone is doing their best to make sure that we are taking steps in the right direction.