Utah State Volleyball Picked To Finish Eighth In The WAC
Utah State’s women’s volleyball team has been picked to finish eighth in the Western Athletic Conference’s preseason poll according to the league’s coaches as the Aggies received 20 votes. Hawai’i, which has won 10 straight WAC titles, was once again selected as the league favorite.
Hawai’i garnered eight of the nine possible first-place votes, while New Mexico State received the other first-place vote and was picked to finish second in the conference. Nevada was picked third by the coaches, followed by Idaho, San Jose State, Fresno State, Boise State, Utah State, and Louisiana Tech.
“Being picked in the lower half of the WAC is to be expected given the loss of talent we incurred from last season,” said first year Utah State head coach Grayson DuBose. “With the young talent we have in the program we should be able to improve as the season progresses and finish better than our preseason ranking.”
Utah State returns just three starters and five letterwinners from last year’s team that went 21-13 on the season, finished in a tie for second-place in the WAC with an 11-5 league record, advanced to the conference’s postseason tournament championship match, and appeared in its third NCAA Tournament in the last seven years. That team was picked tofinish fifth in the WAC according to the league’s coaches.
Among those returning for Utah State is senior libero Kelsi Peterson and junior outside hitter Beth Hodge. Hodge earned Big West Conference all-freshman team honors in 2003, while Peterson set a new school record last year with 510 digs. USU also welcomes a solid recruiting class this fall which includes Hailey Jeppson who was named Utah’s Player of the Yearthis past season at Pleasant Grove High School.
Utah State opens the 2006 season on Aug. 25 against the University of New Mexico in a tournament hosted by the Lobos. USU’s first home match of the season will be on Tues., Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. against Weber State University, while its first WAC match will be on Thur., Sept. 21 as the Aggies host Fresno State.
2006 WAC Volleyball Coaches’ Preseason Poll1. Hawai’i (8) 642. New Mexico State (1) 573. Nevada 484. Idaho 435. San Jose State 346. Fresno State 267. Boise State 228. UTAH STATE 209. Louisiana Tech 10