Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Volleyball Selected Eighth In MVC Preseason Coaches Poll
08/11/2004 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 11, 2004
By Lou Antoine
SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -
Following a 7-23 overall record and 3-15 league mark in 2003, the Southern Illinois University volleyball team was picked to finish eighth in the 2004 MVC Preseason Coaches poll released Wednesday by the MVC Office. The Salukis tied for eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2003.
"If you don't finish at the top consistently, you're not going to be chosen very high in the polls. We can't assume that the other coaches will pick us any higher if we don't play well consistently. We'll use this as motivation to get us back to the MVC Tournament (top six teams), which obviously will force us to finish higher than eighth place. We had a good year two years ago (finishing third), but dropped back down below our expectations last year," said Sonya Locke, SIU head coach.
The Salukis were also selected eighth in 2002 and finished third in the regular season (12-6) and reached its first MVC Tournament final, posting a 23-10 record, the best mark in the last 18 years.
Northern Iowa (93 pts.) was picked to finish first for the sixth-straight year, but will share the top spot with Wichita State (93). The Panthers and Shockers are followed by SMS (77), Illinois State (75), Creighton (58), Bradley (9), Indiana State (35), SIU (26), Drake (25) and Evansville (19).
2004 MVC Preseason All-Conference Team
Emily Kabbes, Illinois State
Elizabeth Meyers, Wichita State
Lindsay Stalzer, Bradley
Rachael Tink, UNI
Shari Vermeer, UNI
Sara Younes, Wichita State
