2017 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball National Championship

Coaches In Top Volleyball Conferences Pick Preseason Favorites

Coaches In Top Volleyball Conferences Pick Preseason Favorites

With the Pac-12 releasing its preseason women's volleyball poll on August 16, the women's volleyball coaches in each of the Power 5 conferences have now made their predictions on which teams will find success this fall.

Aug 17, 2017 by Megan Kaplon
Coaches In Top Volleyball Conferences Pick Preseason Favorites
With the Pac-12 releasing its preseason women's volleyball poll on Wednesday, the women's volleyball coaches in each of the Power Five conferences have now made their predictions on which teams will find success this fall.

It comes as no surprise that Washington, the reigning conference champ which returns all of its starters, topped the Pac-12's preseason poll, with 2016 national champion Stanford coming in at No. 2.

Utah, ranked No. 4, celebrated its highest preseason conference ranking since it joined the Pac-12 in 2012. The Utes, who will be led by senior All-American outside hitter Adora Anae, even received one first-place vote.

Penn State earned the No. 1 spot in the Big Ten's preseason coaches poll, beating out last year's conference champion Nebraska, 2015 winner Minnesota, and 2014 titleholder Wisconsin. The selection marks the fourth time in the past five seasons and the 11th time in 13 years that the 16-time conference champion Nittany Lions have been chosen as preseason conference favorites.

For the third year in a row, North Carolina was pegged as the preseason favorite in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC coaches unanimously chose the reigning champion Tar Heels as the No. 1 preseason team, with Florida State coming in at No. 2.

The race in the Southeastern Conference was a tight one, with Florida taking the No. 1 spot with seven first-place votes and 139 points and No. 2 Kentucky right on the Gators' heels with six first-place votes and 138 points.

Texas, which ranked No. 1 in the nation in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Top 25, continued its streak as the Big 12's preseason favorite, locking in the No. 1 spot in the conference poll for the seventh consecutive year. Last season's Big 12 champion Kansas came in second, with three first-place votes to Texas' six.

See the complete preseason polls and preseason all-conference list from each of the Power Five conferences below.

ACC Preseason Poll


Rank School First-Place Votes Total Points
1 North Carolina 14 196
2 Florida State 169
3 Pitt 168
4 Notre Dame 149
5 NC State 140
6 Miami 136
7 Duke 118
8 Louisville 104
9 Georgia Tech 99
10 Syracuse 75
11 Wake Forest 69
12 Virginia Tech 54
13 Virginia 50
14 Boston College 28
15 Clemson 20

ACC Preseason All-Conference


Player School Pos. Ht. Yr.
Kamalani Akeo Pittsburgh S 5-7 JR
Bree Bailey NC State OH 6-4 GS
Julia Brown NC State OH 6-1 SR
Tess Clark Louisville MB/OH 6-3 SR
Santita Ebangwese Syracuse MB 6-0 JR
Taylor Fricano North Carolina MB/OPP 6-4 SR
Sam Fry Notre Dame MB 6-0 SR
Caroline Holt Notre Dame S 5-8 SR
Milica Kubura Florida State OPP 6-4 SR
Taylor Leath North Carolina OH 6-3 JR
Kylie Long Wake Forest OH 6-2 SR
Leah Meyer Duke MB 6-3 JR
Molly Sauer Louisville L 5-11 JR
Julia Scoles North Carolina OH 6-1 SO
Gabriela Stavnetchei Georgia Tech OH 5-10 SR
Olga Strantzali Miami OH 6-1 SR
Haley Templeton Miami S 6-0 RS JR

Big 12 Preseason Poll


Rank School First-Place Votes Total Points
1 Texas 6 62
2 Kansas 3 59
3 Baylor 47
4 Iowa State 46
5 Kansas State 35
6 West Virginia 24
7 TCU 23
8 Oklahoma 15
9 Texas Tech 13

Big 12 Preseason All-Conference


Player School Pos. Ht. Yr.
Reyn Akiu Texas Tech L 5-2 JR
Payton Caffrey West Virginia OH 6-0 SO
Madison Drescher Oklahoma OH 6-2 JR
Ainise Havili Kansas S 5-10 SR
Ebony Nwanebu Texas OPP 6-4 SR
Chiaka Ogbogu Texas MB 6-2 SR
Kelsie Payne Kansas OPP 6-3 SR
Madison Rigdon Kansas OH 6-0 SR
Jess Schaben Iowa State OH 6-2 JR
Katie Staiger Baylor OH 6-1 SR
Bryna Vogel Kansas State OPP 6-0 SR
Anna Walsh TCU MB 6-2 JR
Micaya White Texas OH 6-1 SO

Big Ten Preseason Poll


Rank School
1 Penn State
2 Nebraska
3 Minnesota
4 Michigan State
5 Wisconsin
6 Purdue
7 Michigan
8 Ohio State
9 Illinois
10 Iowa
11 Maryland
12 Northwestern
13 Indiana
14 Rutgers

Big Ten Preseason All-Conference


Player School Pos. Ht. Yr.
Ali Bastianelli Illinois MB 6-3 JR
Danielle Cuttino Purdue OH 6-4 SR
Mikaela Foecke Nebraska OH 6-3 JR
Ali Frantti Penn State OH 6-1 SR
Alyssa Garvelink Michigan State MB 6-4 SR
Molly Haggerty Wisconsin OH 6-1 SO
Alexis Hart Minnesota OH 6-0 SO
Kelly Hunter Nebraska S 5-11 SR
Claire Kieffer-Wright Michigan MB 6-1 SR
Simone Lee Penn State OH 6-1 SR
Molly Lohman Minnesota MB 6-3 SR
Jordyn Poulter Illinois S 6-2 JR
Samantha Seliger-Swenson Minnesota S 5-11 JR
Haleigh Washington Penn State MB 6-3 SR
Tionna Williams Wisconsin MB 6-2 JR

Pac-12 Preseason Poll


Rank School First-Place Votes Total Points
1 Washington 8 118
2 Stanford 3 113
3 Oregon 93
4 Utah 1 88
5 UCLA 83
6 USC 71
7 Washington State 66
8 Arizona 51
9 Colorado 38
10 Oregon State 33
11 California 23
12 Arizona State 15

Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference


Player Team Pos. Ht. Yr.
Taylor Agost Oregon OH 6-2 SR
Adora Anae Utah OH 6-1 SR
Reily Buechler UCLA OH 6-1 SR
Crissy Jones Washington OH 6-2 SR
Audriana Fitzmorris Stanford MB 6-6 SO
Morgan Hentz Stanford L 5-9 SO
Khalia Lanier USC OH 6-2 SO
Merete Lutz Stanford MB 6-8 RS SR
Mary-Kate Marshall Oregon State OH 6-1 SR
Kathryn Plummer Stanford OH/OPP 6-6 SO
Courtney Schwan Washington OH 6-1 SR
Ronika Stone Oregon MB 6-2 SO
Bailey Tanner Washington S 6-1 SR
Lindsey Vander Weide Oregon OPP/OH 6-3 JR

SEC Preseason Poll


Rank School First-Place Votes Points
1 Florida 7 139
2 Kentucky 6 138
3 Missouri 121
4 Texas A&M 110
5 Auburn 96
6 Tennessee 79
7 South Carolina 73
8 Arkansas 70
9 LSU 56
10 Alabama 48
11 Georgia 42
12 Ole Miss 28
13 Mississippi State 14

SEC Preseason All-Conference


Player School Pos. Ht. Yr.
Rhamat Alhassan Florida MB 6-4 SR
Kaitlyn Blake Texas A&M MB/OPP 6-2 JR
Kaz Brown Kentucky MB 6-4 SR
Melanie Crow Missouri OH 6-1 RS SR
Ashley Dusek Kentucky L 5-7 SR
Leah Edmond Kentucky OH 6-2 SO
Alyssa Munlyn Missouri MB 6-2 JR
Mikayla Shields South Carolina OPP/OH 6-0 SO
Carli Snyder Florida OH 6-1 SR
Pilar Victoria Arkansas OH 5-11 RS SR


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