NEDERLAND — A lot has changed since Kristin Lemoine’s Nederland volleyball team was on the court last against Santa Fe in November.

District 22-5A was thrown a wrinkle when the UIL moved Port Arthur Memorial down from Class 6A and also moved Livingston into the district.

Nederland’s head coach does not know much about the two newcomers but does know her Bulldogs are ready for the competition.

“I really can’t speak on those two teams because I don’t know anything about them,” Lemoine said. “What I do know is Port Neches-Groves, Lumberton, Vidor, Central and Ozen are all really good teams. This is a competitive district.”

The Bulldogs finished second last year behind Goose Creek Memorial, who made the move to District 21-6A. Nederland was swept in the second round by Santa Fe.

Nederland finished the year 26-13 overall.

The Bulldogs lost six seniors to graduation in 2016 including the district’s Setter of the Year in Emma Forsythe and Offensive Player of the Year in Courtney Noel.

Incoming senior Abbey Montalvo is one of the senior leaders for Lemoine and will take over the setting duties.

Fellow senior-to-be Darcie Jones leads the defense at libero. Lemoine said

defense is the strength of the Bulldogs this year.

Nederland has been back at practice since Monday. Lemoine said the team has shown a lot of excitement getting back on the court.

“They are pumped,” Lemoine said. “They are pumped because of how our district alignment is. The district is not as dominated with one school, and it is a lot more even.

“The kids are excited and they know what they are capable of. They want to continue that tradition of going that far in the playoffs each year and hopefully even further.”

The Bulldogs step on the court at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Crosby.

“We are all pretty pumped,” Jones said. “We worked really hard over the summer to make sure we are ready. We are excited for the season. We expect to go further this year than the second year. We know what we are going in for so we are excited.”

Jones said the team did lose some powerful hitters from last year in Noel, her twin sister Caroline Noel and Marlee Lee. The 2016 team, she added, can get to that level with some practice.

“We have some pretty hard hitters but maybe not as many as last year with the graduating seniors,” Jones said. “Defense is a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication. We are doing what we can and excelling each day.”

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Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe