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NM STATE FAVORED IN WAC PRESEASON POLL
The WAC coaches selected NM State to win the WAC regular-season crown in 2017. The Aggies received six of the first-place votes and 48 total points to earn the top spot in the poll. Reigning WAC Tournament champion UT Rio Grande Valley finished in second place with 39 points, edging out Utah Valley, which earned the other two first-place votes and 37 total points. Kansas City was fourth with 31 points, while CSU Bakersfield and Seattle U tied for fifth place with 24 points. Grand Canyon and Chicago State rounded out the poll with 14 and seven points, respectively.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC
UT Rio Grande Valley senior right side hitter
Bojana Mitrovic was the pick for WAC Preseason Player of the Year. NM State placed the most players on the preseason All-WAC team with five, while Utah Valley had three and UTRGV and Seattle U had two apiece. Joining Mitrovic on the preseason team are NM State's
Jordan Abalos,
Briana Ainsworth,
Tatyana Battle,
Ariadnne Sierra and
Sasha-Lee Thomas, Utah Valley's
Madison Dennison,
Sierra Starley and
Lexi Thompson, Kansas City's
Alicia Harrington, CSU Bakersfield's
Sydney Haynes, Seattle U's
Katarina Marinkovic and
Maja Stojanovic and UT Rio Grande Valley's
Ragni Steen Knudsen.
2017 PERSONNEL CAPSULE
Six of the eight schools return at least three of their starters from last year for the 2017 campaign. NM State returns all seven starters, while Grand Canyon returns six. The Lopes and Aggies 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 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
5 |
| Chicago State |
6 |
6 |
4 |
3 |
| Grand Canyon |
11 |
7 |
6 |
1 |
| Kansas City |
6 |
7 |
2 |
5 |
| NM State |
11 |
1 |
7 |
0 |
| Seattle U |
8 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
| UT Rio Grande Valley |
8 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
| Utah Valley |
10 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
2017 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2017 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be held Nov. 16-18 at the UTRGV Field House in Edinburg, Texas, and will include the top six teams in the regular-season standings.
2017 WAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 16 (First Round)
Match 1 - No. 6 seed vs. No. 3 seed, 4:30 p.m.
Match 2 - No. 5 seed vs. No. 4 seed, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 17 (Semifinals)
Match 3 - Winner Match 1 vs. No. 2 seed, 4:30 p.m.
Match 4 - Winner Match 2 vs. No. 1 seed, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 18 (Championship)
Match 5 - Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 7 p.m.
TOP STAT LEADERS
In hitting efficiency, five of the top 10 hitters are back, led by Seattle U's
Maja Stojanovic (.306), who ranked third a year ago. UT Rio Grande Valley's
Alexandra Ecker (.290), who ranked fourth last year, also returns. The remaining leaders are Utah Valley's
Madison Dennison (.280, fifth), and NM State's
Sasha-Lee Thomas (.266, seventh) and
Kassandra Tohm (.244, 10th).
Seven of the top 10 kill leaders return, led by NM State's
Jordan Abalos, who ranked second in the WAC last year with 3.70 kills per set. UTRGV's
Ragni Steen Knudsen ranked third with 3.46, followed by the Aggies'
Tatyana Battle in fifth with 3.35. The other returning kill leaders are Seattle U's
Katarina Marinkovic (3.32, sixth), UTRGV's
Bojana Mitrovic (3.29, seventh), Grand Canyon's
Katrice Pond (3.13, eighth) and Utah Valley's
Lexi Thompson (3.06, 10th).
Seven of the top assist leaders from last season return for the 2017 campaign, led by Utah Valley's
Sierra Starley, who finished last season ranked second in the WAC with 8.96 assists per set. Also returning are Grand Canyon's
Heidi Carpenter (7.94, third), UTRGV's
Tina Sekulic (7.62, fifth), CSU Bakersfield's
Fabiana Andrade (7.44, sixth), NM State's
Briana Ainsworth (7.07, seventh), Seattle U's
Shae Harris (6.80, eighth) and UTRGV's
Dubravka Vukoja (6.02, ninth).
Six of the top 10 servers return, led by Seattle U's Marinkovic in second place with 0.45. NM State's
Ariadnne Sierra was third with 0.37, followed by UTRGV's Knudsen in fourth (0.35) and Grand Canyon's Carpenter in fifth (0.33). Rounding out the group are CSUB's Andrade in seventh (0.29) and NM State's Battle in 10th (0.28).
Five of the top blockers return, led by Utah Valley's Dennison, who last year led the WAC with 1.45 blocks per set, followed by teammate
Brighton Taylor in second (1.25). UTRGV's
Barbara Silva was third (1.16), followed by Seattle U's Stojanovic in fifth (1.04) and UTRGV's Ecker in sixth (1.00).
Three of the top 10 dig leaders return for the 2017 season, led WAC Libero of the Year Sierra in second place with 4.68 digs per set. Chicago State's
Megan Klavitter was eighth (2.99), while NM State's Abalos rounds out the group (2.90, ninth).
Six of the top 10 point leaders from a year ago return, led by Abalos in second place (4.15). Also returning are UTRGV's Knudsen (4.00, third), Seattle U's Marinkovic (3.99, fourth), UTRGV's Mitrovic (3.95, fifth), NM State's Battle (3.83, seventh) and Utah Valley's Thompson (3.53, 10th).
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Of the seven first team All-WAC players in 2016, four return for the 2017 season - NM State's
Jordan Abalos and
Tatyana Battle, Utah Valley's
Madison Dennison and UT Rio Grande Valley's
Bojana Mitrovic.
Five of the seven second team honorees return, including CSU Bakersfield's
Sydney Haynes, Seattle U's
Katarina Marinkovic, NM State's
Ariadnne Sierra and
Sasha-Lee Thomas and Utah Valley's
Lexi Thompson.
Four of the six All-Freshman Team honorees from a year ago return -
Alicia Harrington of Kansas City,
Izzie Hinton of Utah Valley, Marinkovic of Seattle U and
Barbara Silva of UTRGV.
2017 NCAA TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship bracket (64-team field) will be announced Sunday, Nov. 26. First & Second Round competition will be held Nov. 30-Dec. 2 on 16 non-predetermined campus sites. At each campus site, four teams will compete in single-elimination competition. The two winning teams then compete against each other in second round competition at the same campus site. The winning team from each of the 16 second rounds advances to the Regionals, which will be held Dec. 8-9 at four non-predetermined sites. At each site, four teams compete in Regional Semifinal competition. The two winning teams then compete against each other in Regional Final competition at the same site. The winning team from each of the four Regionals will advance to the championship final site in Kansas City, Mo. The 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. The National Semifinals will be held Dec. 14 and the National Championship will take place Dec. 16.