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MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY FAVORED IN WAC PRESEASON POLL
The WAC coaches selected Missouri-Kansas City as the team to beat in 2015. The Kangaroos received four of the first-place votes and 45 total points to earn the top spot in the poll. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
NM State earned two first-place votes and 40 total points, followed by Seattle U with one first-place vote and 37 points in third place. CSU Bakersfield was picked to finish fourth with 33 points and the other first-place vote, followed by Utah Valley in fifth with 28 points. Grand Canyon in sixth with 20 points, while The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Chicago State round out the poll with 13 and eight points, respectively.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC
Utah Valley senior middle blocker Lauren Bakker was selected as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
UMKC, NM State and Seattle U placed the most players on the preseason All-WAC team with three apiece, while CSU Bakersfield and Utah Valley had two each.
Joining Bakker on the team is teammate Macky Fifita, UMKC's Sydney Crimmins, Jessica Hendin and Taryn Miller, NM State's Nathalie Castellanos, Gwen Murphy and Bradley Nash, Seattle U's Matea Mamic, Martina Samadan and Jelena Vujcin, CSU Bakersfield's Luiza Martins and Kelsee Sawyer, and Grand Canyon's Natalie Tardy.
2015 PERSONNEL CAPSULE
Six of the eight schools return at least three of their starters from last year for the 2015 campaign. UMKC and NM State return six of seven starters, while Seattle U returns five. UMKC and NM State return 11 letterwinners apiece, while Utah Valley returns 10. The following is a breakdown of each team's letterwinners returning and lost and starters returning and lost.
| Team |
LR |
LL |
SR |
SL |
| CSU Bakersfield |
6 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
| Chicago State |
4 |
9 |
2 |
5 |
| Grand Canyon |
8 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
| Missouri-Kansas City |
11 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
| New Mexico State |
11 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
| Seattle U |
7 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
| UT Rio Grande Valley |
5 |
9 |
2 |
5 |
| Utah Valley |
10 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2015 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2015 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be held Nov. 19-21 at the Swinney Recreation Center in Kansas City, Mo., and will include the top six eligible teams in the regular-season standings.
2015 WAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 19 (First Round)
Match 1 - No. 6 seed vs. No. 3 seed, 5 p.m.
Match 2 - No. 5 seed vs. No. 4 seed, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 20 (Semifinals)
Match 3 - Winner Match 1 vs. No. 2 seed, 5 p.m.
Match 4 - Winner Match 2 vs. No. 1 seed, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 21 (Championship)
Match 5 - Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 5 p.m.
TOP STAT LEADERS
The following are the returning statistical leaders from the 2014 season. In hitting efficiency, six of the top 10 hitters are back, led by Seattle U's Martina Samadan (.363), who led the league a year ago. Utah Valley's Lauren Bakker (.352), who ranked second last year, also returns. The remaining leaders are Utah Valley's Madison Dennison (.329, fifth), New Mexico State's Gwen Murphy (.304, sixth) and Nathalie Castellanos (.287, eighth) and Missouri-Kansas City's Skyler Muff (.260, 10th).
Seven of the top 10 kill leaders return, led by Grand Canyon's Natalie Tardy, who was third with 3.47 kills per set, while Bakersfield's Kelsee Sawyer was fourth, averaging 3.38. Utah Valley's Macky Fifita ranked sixth last year with 2.98, followed by Seattle U's Matea Mamic in seventh with a 2.93 average. UMKC's Jessica Hendin was eighth with a 2.83 average, while Samadan was ninth, averaging 2.79, and UT Rio Grande Valley's Haley Durham rounds out the returning leaders in 10th place with 2.75.
Six of the top assist leaders from last season return for the 2015 campaign. CSU Bakersfield's Luiza Martins, who last year led the WAC with 11.44 assists per set, returns, followed by Seattle U's Kerry Lane, who finished last season ranked second in the WAC with 9.81 and Grand Canyon's Michelle Steagall in third (9.02). The remaining leaders are Utah Valleys Sierra Starley (6.58, sixth), New Mexico State's Taylor Livoti (6.19, seventh) and UMKC's Kaylyn Brandt (5.96, eighth).
Just three of the top 10 servers return, led by Chicago State's Elli Woinowsky in second place with 0.38 per set. UTRV's Alisha Watson was fourth with 0.33, while UMKC's Jessica Hendin was fifth (0.31).
Five of the top blockers return, led by Bakker, who led the WAC with 1.26 blocks per set, followed by Samadan in third (1.21). The remaining block returners are NM State's Sasha-Lee Thomas (1.15, fourth), Chicago State's Essence Jackson-Jones (1.12, seventh) and Murphy (1.11, eighth).
Only three of the top 10 dig leaders return for the 2015 season, and all three come from UMKC. Taryn Miller led the WAC last year with 5.48 digs per set, while teammates Hendin (3.02, eighth) and Sydney Crimmins (2.90, ninth) round out the group.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Of the seven first team All-WAC players in 2014, four return for the 2015 season, led by Preseason Player of the Year Lauren Bakker of Utah Valley. Also returning from the first team are Missouri-Kansas City's Sydney Crimmins and Taryn Miller, and Martina Samadan of Seattle U.
Four of the seven second team honorees return, including Nathalie Castellanos and Gwen Murphy of New Mexico State, Luiza Martins of CSU Bakersfield and Utah Valley's Macky Fifita.
All six of the All-Freshman Team honorees a year ago return - Jordan Abalos and Sasha-Lee Thomas of NM State, Sydney Haynes of CSU Bakersfield, Natalie Tardy of Grand Canyon, Jelena Vujcin of Seattle U and Madison Dennison of Utah Valley.
2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship bracket will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 29. First & Second Round competition will be held Dec. 4-6 on 16 campus sites. At each campus site, four teams will compete in single-elimination First Round competition. The two winning teams will then compete against each other in single-elimination Second Round competition at the same campus site. The winning team from each of the 16 Second Rounds will advance to the Regionals.
Regionals will be held Dec. 11-12 at the following locations:
Austin, Texas - Gregory Gymnasium | Hosted by the University of Texas at Austin
Des Moines, Iowa - Wells Fargo Arena | Hosted by the University of Northern Iowa and the Des Moines Area Sports Commission
Lexington, Ky. - Memorial Coliseum | Hosted by the University of Kentucky
San Diego - Jenny Craig Pavilion | Hosted by the University of San Diego
At each site, four teams will compete in single-elimination Regional Semifinal competition. The two winning teams will then compete against each other in single-elimination Regional Final competition at the same site. The winning team from each of the four Regionals will advance to the championship final site in Omaha, Neb.
The 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb. National Semifinals will be held Dec. 17, and the National Championship will take place Dec. 19.