The Berry basketball teams will kick off the 2009-10 season tonight with a doubleheader against Covenant.

The women's team will face the Lady Scots at 6 p.m. followed by the men's game at 8 p.m.

This is the first game of the season for both Berry teams as the school makes the transition to NCAA Division III and competes in both the NAIA and NCAA this season.

The transition means that the teams will not be able to compete for post season honors, but it creates an even greater importance on every regular season game starting with the season opener on Monday.

"I think that the biggest quest we have as coaches this season is getting our team to compete at the highest level for the entirety of the season," said Berry's head men's coach Jeff Haarlow. "I think our players have a lot of pride in themselves and in our program and will work on improving every day. We generally don't talk in terms of wins and losses when setting goals, our process is focused on improving daily as a program and as a family."

The Berry men's team lost five players from last year's lineup, but will return several key players including point guards Will Blackwell and Kendall Gadie, as well as shooting guards Tim Miles and Josh Bracken.

Forwards Lee Trebotich and David Holloman are also returning. The team will also look for more production from players like Josh Bracken and Bentley Sparks who have matured in the Berry program.

Matt Mixer will also try to comeback from an injury this year to be a productive player later in the year. Trebotich, Sparks and Blackwell will serve as the team captains this season.

These established players will look to combine with newcomers Cory Ragnott, Michael Shulte, Robert Caruso and red-shirt freshman Stefan Woods.

"I think that what's been interesting this year is the new roles of all the players on our team," Haarlow added. "We are depending on a lot of players in new roles this season."

"We are excited about Monday," concluded Haarlow. "There are a lot of unknowns coming into the game, but we're confident and excited about the game."

On the women's side, Berry brings in changes at all levels starting with new head coach Stephanie Dunn, who accepted the reins of the program from Jonathan Norton.

The new coach brings in a tradition of winning, having already claimed a pair of state titles at the Georgia High School level.

"Coming in we want to lay a foundation for the style of play that we hope to run at Berry over the next few years," said Dunn. "That means an up-tempo game with a solid and aggressive defense. We are excited to run an active, motion offense where the players are reading their defender's movements."

Several players have departed from last year's team that made the NAIA National Tournament, including leading scorer Nikki Jackson. However, Dunn sees this as an opportunity for the current crop of Berry players to step forward and claim dominant roles on the team.

"Starting at the guard position we are strong," said Dunn. "Our forwards are somewhat undersized, but in our current system they will be able to take advantage of bigger, slower-moving defenders."

Holly Compton returns at the point guard position along with Laura Gerdnic. Lakisha Bryant will see time at the one and two guard role for the Berry team after leading the squad in three point field goals last season.

The team also has more sizable guards with returners Erica Crumley, Kate Ross and Brittany Coughlan who will each schedule more of the scoring load this season.

At the post Berry returns Model grad, Kendall Davis along with Tikedra Jones and Carroll Lampley. Senior Laura Moore, will also make the transition to forward this season, after playing as a guard the previous three years under Norton.

These players will look to mesh with the three new additions to the Berry team: Amanda Allison, Alexa Evans and Natalie Moffett, who will add depth to the Berry roster as they learn to play at the collegiate pace.

Coach Dunn says that each of these players is coming along nicely and learning fast what it takes to play at the collegiate level.

"We hope to play an exciting, aggressive style of basketball that will allow our players to maximize their abilities," said Dunn. "We hope to surprise a lot of teams in the league and walk away with a winning season."

Both the men's and women's schedules will present a challenge this season with games against both the NAIA and NCAA. The Berry women's schedule is a who's-who of top-level NAIA teams with a few top NCAA division III teams in the mix making for a challenging but fun year.

The men's schedule is also dotted with both NAIA and NCAA division III opponents. However, the highlight of the men's schedule is a trip to San Diego to take on NAIA foe Point Loma Nazarene and NCAA division I opponent University of California - Riverside.