Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Salukis picked to finish fourth in MVC Preseason Poll
08/19/2015 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS -- The Saluki volleyball team has been predicted to finish the season in fourth place in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll, which was released on Wednesday. SIU received 72 points and one first place vote from the annual poll of league coaches.
Senior Taylor Pippen was also selected as a member of the MVC Preseason All-Conference team for the second year in a row. Last year Pippen finished the season with a record-breaking hitting efficiency, leading the Valley and ranking 11th nationally with a .410 percentage.
Southern Illinois welcomes back all six starters from its 2014 squad that finished 16-15 (10-8 MVC) and will be led offensively by senior middle blocker Taylor Pippen (290 kills, 107 blocks), who is a two-time first team all-MVC selection.
Junior right side Meg Viggars (227 kills, 534 assists, 235 digs, 86 blocks), a second team all-conference performer in 2014, sophomore Andrea Estrada (322 kills, 274 digs, 44 blocks), a member of the league's all-freshman team last season, and sophomores Abby Barrow (223 kills, 25 blocks) and Nellie Fredriksson (160 kills, 82 blocks) will add to the offensive firepower for the Salukis. Junior setter Hannah Kaminsky (673 assists, 212 digs, 32 aces) will once again distribute the ball to the SIU offense.
SIU falls just four points shy of Northern Iowa in third place with 76 points. Wichita State and Missouri State take the first and second place slots with 97 and 87 points respectively. Wichita State received seven first place votes, and enters the season fresh off its 12 consecutive 20-win season.
In 2014, the MVC saw four league teams win 20+ matches, and finished with a league RPI of 14 in 2014, including four teams in the top-80 -- Illinois State (No. 25), Wichita State (No. 71), Missouri State (No. 78) and UNI (No. 79).
This year, MVC teams return 45 starters and seven liberos (74 percent of starters), three AVCA All-Americans, eight first team all-conference selections and another two players who earned second-team accolades.
2015 MVC Preseason Poll
1. Wichita State (7) 97
2. Missouri State (1) 87
3. UNI (1) 76
4. Southern Illinois (1) 72
5. Illinois State 63
6. Indiana State 50
7. Loyola 43
8. Drake 25
9. Evansville 22
10. Bradley 15
