Ladyjacks Picked Fourth, Fifth In Preseason Polls
8/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 18, 2009
FRISCO, Texas - The Southland Conference has announced its annual preseason all-conference teams and polls with SFA being picked near the top of both polls and a pair of Ladyjacks being named to the all-league team.
Middle blockers MC Bottles and Ashley Bailey were each named to a preseason team, while the Ladyjacks found themselves picked fifth in the coaches poll and fourth in the league's sports information director's poll. Defending league champion Texas State was the choice to repeat in both polls, while SFA was one of five teams to receive a first-place vote in the SID poll. The Ladyjacks totaled 110 points with the SIDs to fall in behind the Bobcats, reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Lamar and Central Arkansas. In the coaches poll the Ladyjacks picked up 97 points as they were picked behind Texas State, Central Arkansas, Lamar and UTSA.
Bottles was an automatic selection to the preseason All-Southland Conference first team after making the All-Southland Conference first team in 2008, becoming the first ever SFA freshman to make the league's first team. The Rowlett, Texas, native finished third in the Southland Conference in hitting percentage a year ago, hitting .356 while averaging 2.60 kills and 0.88 blocks per set.
Bailey is the other Ladyjack on the preseason team as she was placed on the second team for the second consecutive season after earning honorable mention all-league honors last year for the first time. The ultra-athletic middle blocker led the league in blocks in 2008, rejecting an even 1.00 shots per set. She also nearly doubled her career hitting percentage, swinging at a .298 clip and notching 2.35 kills per set. She was the only middle blocker named to the second team and makes the Ladyjacks the only team in the league with two middle blockers on the preseason squads.
The Ladyjacks open up the season in head coach Debbie Humphreys' home state of Illinois as they will take part in the Northern Illinois Tournament beginning Aug. 28 against Illinois-Chicago. Southern Illinois, Western Illinois and Northern Illinois will also match up with SFA in DeKalb with the Ladyjacks returning to Nacogdoches for their home opener on Sept. 2 against Louisiana-Lafayette in Johnson Coliseum.
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