SAN ANTONIO – The Angelo State volleyball team is picked to finish second behind West Texas A&M, according to the 2012 LSC preseason volleyball poll announced Tuesday.
"I think the poll reflects the depth and strength of our conference with five teams receiving 200 points or better," ASU head coach Chuck Waddington said. "It should be an exciting year for sure. We are looking forward to the challenge."
The Lady Buffs have won six consecutive Lone Star Conference championship entering this season and have beat the Rambelles the last two season's in the tournament's championship match. The league's preseason polls reflect the opinions of LSC head coaches and sports information directors, plus various media representatives from throughout the region.
Three Lone Star Conference volleyball standouts were honored Tuesday as league officials announced the 2012 Preseason Players of the Year. Texas Woman's Viktorija Jablonska earned Offensive Player of the Year acclaim, while West Texas A&M's Erin Dougherty and Lacy Hayes were tabbed Defensive Player of the Year and Setter of the Year, respectively.
The 2012 volleyball season begins in late August, with 11 teams set to compete. LSC teams will use a one-conference double round-robin scheduling model, in which each team plays a home and away match against each of the other teams.
The LSC champion will be the regular season winner determined by league matches, while the postseason tournament winner is designated as LSC Tournament Champion and earns the conference's automatic qualification. The top eight teams in the final conference standings qualify for the postseason tournament set for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, November 15-16-17, using the NCAA regional format at the No. 1 seed.
WTAMU (34-3 overall, 19-1 LSC) captured its sixth straight and 17th overall league title in 2011, but had its NCAA and LSC record 87-match winning streak against conference opponents dating back to 2006 stopped.
The Lady Buffs earned first-place votes on 21 of the 27 ballots for a total of 291 points. Angelo State earned five first-place nods to finish second with 269 points.
Abilene Christian was third with 227 total points, Tarleton State fourth (206), Texas Woman's fifth (203 plus remaining first-place vote), Cameron sixth (130), Midwestern State seventh (125) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (112) eighth. Texas A&M-Commerce (96), Incarnate Word (93) and Eastern New Mexico (30) rounded out the poll.
The Belles are coming off a 31-6 record in 2011 and the first national tournament win in 20 seasons. ASU will return nine players from last year's team and have signed seven players who will join the team in the fall. ASU loses Celeste Bonter, Debbie Ohl and Kayla Smith from graduation. The 2012 team will have four seniors on the team with Emily Booth, Katie Coleman, Chelsea Gibson and Alex Woolsey returning for their last season. Maddie Huth, Alisa Meredith, Leah McWilliams and Kaelen Valdez round out the junior class with Shelby Wilt coming back as a sophomore. Haley Bianco, Arielle Bond, Shelbi Goode, Kailyn Troxell, Katie MacLeay, Cerbi Ritchey and Emily Rodriguez are the seven new additions to the roster.
Rank Team 1st TOTAL
1 West Texas A&M 21 291
2 Angelo State 5 269
3 Abilene Christian 227
4 Tarleton State 206
5 Texas Woman's 1 203
6 Cameron 130
7 Midwestern State 125
8 Texas A&M-Kingsville 112
9 Texas A&M-Commerce 96
10 Incarnate Word 93
11 Eastern New Mexico 30
