Any successful team needs grizzled veterans, those players that have seen every situation and dealt with everything that comes with playing a long season.

These players are necessary because they give the younger players on the team something to lean on.

Brittany Snider and Crystal Elliot are those players for the 2012 Ashland volleyball team.

In four years as starters, they have gone through a coaching change, seen players leave and graduate and experienced success and failure.

Head coach Cass Dixon knows that she will have to rely on Snider and Elliot as two of the most talented players on a team loaded with juniors and freshmen.

“I’m expecting them to compete and be leaders in one form or another, whether that’s vocally or leading by their play,” she said.

Snider is a five-foot ten-inch outside hitter who has a chance to cement herself as one of the most prolific offensive players in the history of the program.

She comes into the year with 1,143 kills and could leave as AU’s all-time leader in that category.

Dixon describes Snider as one of the best athletes in the conference.

Elliot is a five-foot nine-inch setter who has led the team in sets all three years. She led the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in assists in 2010 and was fourth last year with 1,010. She enters this year fourth all-time on the career sets list.

Dixon said Elliot has been working hard on her decision-making process and believes that 2012 could be her best season yet.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing how her mind has developed with the training from us,” she said.

Snider and Elliot have felt the pressure of being looked up to as leaders in the past. As sophomores, they were called upon as two of the players with the most experience. Then, last year, everyone started with a clean slate under a completely new system.

“I think for the most part it went pretty smoothly,” Snider said.

“It took us awhile to adjust because we know that Cass, who is our current coach, is very laid-back and she’s very understanding. It took us awhile to realize that she can still, like, whoop our ass sometimes.”

After starting 2011 with a 9-3 record, the Eagles lost six matches in a row and went just 2-9 in the month of October. Still, they managed to sneak into the GLIAC tournament before losing in the semifinals to Ferris State.

This year, Snider and Elliot want to finish on top. Their goals are to win the conference and make the NCAA tournament.

As part of a strong returning core, they know those goals are within reach.

“Ashland is pretty much the team to beat in our conference this year,” Elliot said. “We are one of the top dogs.”

As for personal goals, the seniors just want to leave their mark on the program in ways that do not involve a record book.

Not a word was mentioned about sets or kills. It starts with sharing their knowledge and ends with younger players using that knowledge to put Ashland on top of the GLIAC.

“We want to be the first team that starts a legacy and starts always having the best team in the conference,” Snider said.

Ashland begins its season Aug. 31 at the Truman State Days Inn Bulldog Invitational with matches against Winona State and Missouri-Saint Louis. This will be the first of three early-season invitational tournaments for the Eagles, who do not play at home until Sept. 21 when they welcome Michigan Tech.