The Texas A&M volleyball team is picked to finish fourth in the Southeastern Conference standings according to the 2017 SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, released today by the league office. In addition, Aggie junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake has been voted to the 10-member Volleyball Preseason All-SEC Team.
Florida, which tied Missouri for the 2016 SEC championship with a 16-2 record, is the preseason favorite to win the title again this year, having received seven first-place votes and a league-best 139 points. Kentucky, which tied Texas A&M for third place with a 15-3 record in 2016, finished a close second in the preseason poll, having received six first-place votes and 138 total points.
Defending co-champion Missouri placed third with 121 points, and the Aggies followed with 110 points. Auburn finished sixth with 96 points, and Tennessee received 79 points to place sixth. South Carolina came in seventh with 73 points, followed by Arkansas (70) in eighth, and LSU (56) in ninth. Alabama (48) took 10th place, followed by Georgia (42), Ole Miss (28) and Mississippi State (14) to round out the poll.
Points were compiled on a 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, and coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
Blake, from Allen, Texas, is coming off an impressive sophomore campaign in which she earned Honorable Mention All-America laurels from both the American Volleyball Coaches Association and PrepVolleyball.com and also was named to the AVCA All-South Region Team and the All-SEC Team after leading the conference and ranking seventh in the nation with 1.52 blocks per set. A two-time SEC Player of the Week, Blake also led the SEC, was 15th in the nation and ranked fourth in the A&M season records with 164 total blocks, and her 145 block assists tied for third in the A&M all-time season records, only nine short of the school's all-time record.
Blake, who started every match and played in all 108 sets as a sophomore, also was second on the team and seventh in the SEC with a .361 hitting percentage in all matches.
She is joined on the SEC preseason team by Pilar Victoria from Arkansas; Rhamat Alhassan and Carli Snyder from Florida; Kaz Brown, Ashley Dusek and Leah Edmond from Kentucky; Melanie Crow and Alyssa Munlyn from Missouri and Mikayla Shields from South Carolina.
Texas A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli, celebrating her 25th season at the helm of the Aggies, returns 12 letterwinners—including four starters plus the libero—from last year's team that went 21-9 overall and reached the NCAA Championship tournament for a sixth consecutive season. She also will welcome a stellar freshman class, ranked the 18th best recruiting class in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com, when the Aggies officially report to campus August 7 and begin organized preseason training on August 8.
The Aggies open the regular season by hosting a two-day tournament against Sam Houston State, Texas State and Virginia Commonwealth on August 25-26 at Reed Arena and open the SEC season at LSU on Sept. 22.
The full season volleyball schedule is available at 12thMan.com.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the team on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.
2017 SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll
(First-Place Votes in Parentheses)
Place School Points
1. Florida (7) 139
2. Kentucky (6) 138
3. Missouri 121
4. TEXAS A&M 110
5. Auburn 96
6. Tennessee 79
7. South Carolina 73
8. Arkansas 70
9. LSU 56
10. Alabama 48
11 Georgia 42
12. Ole Miss 28
13. Mississippi State 14
2017 Preseason All-SEC Team
Name, School Pos. Yr. Ht. Hometown
Pilar Victoria, Arkansas OH R-Sr. 5-11 Caguas, Puerto Rico
Rhamat Alhassan, Florida MB Jr. 6-4 Glenarden, Md.
Carli Snyder, Florida OH Jr. 6-1 Macomb, Mich.
Kaz Brown, Kentucky MB Sr. 6-4 Waterloo, Iowa
Ashley Dusek, Kentucky DS Sr. 5-7 East Bernard, Texas
Leah Edmond, Kentucky OH So. 6-2 Lexington, Ky.
Melanie Crow, Missouri OH R-Sr. 6-1 Wildwood, Co.
Alyssa Munlyn, Missouri MB Jr. 6-2 Suwanee, Ga.
Mikayla Shields, South Carolina RS/OH So. 6-0 Orlando, Fla.
Kaitlyn Blake, Texas A&M MB Jr. 6-2 Allen, Texas
Florida, which tied Missouri for the 2016 SEC championship with a 16-2 record, is the preseason favorite to win the title again this year, having received seven first-place votes and a league-best 139 points. Kentucky, which tied Texas A&M for third place with a 15-3 record in 2016, finished a close second in the preseason poll, having received six first-place votes and 138 total points.
Defending co-champion Missouri placed third with 121 points, and the Aggies followed with 110 points. Auburn finished sixth with 96 points, and Tennessee received 79 points to place sixth. South Carolina came in seventh with 73 points, followed by Arkansas (70) in eighth, and LSU (56) in ninth. Alabama (48) took 10th place, followed by Georgia (42), Ole Miss (28) and Mississippi State (14) to round out the poll.
Points were compiled on a 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, and coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
Blake, from Allen, Texas, is coming off an impressive sophomore campaign in which she earned Honorable Mention All-America laurels from both the American Volleyball Coaches Association and PrepVolleyball.com and also was named to the AVCA All-South Region Team and the All-SEC Team after leading the conference and ranking seventh in the nation with 1.52 blocks per set. A two-time SEC Player of the Week, Blake also led the SEC, was 15th in the nation and ranked fourth in the A&M season records with 164 total blocks, and her 145 block assists tied for third in the A&M all-time season records, only nine short of the school's all-time record.
Blake, who started every match and played in all 108 sets as a sophomore, also was second on the team and seventh in the SEC with a .361 hitting percentage in all matches.
She is joined on the SEC preseason team by Pilar Victoria from Arkansas; Rhamat Alhassan and Carli Snyder from Florida; Kaz Brown, Ashley Dusek and Leah Edmond from Kentucky; Melanie Crow and Alyssa Munlyn from Missouri and Mikayla Shields from South Carolina.
Texas A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli, celebrating her 25th season at the helm of the Aggies, returns 12 letterwinners—including four starters plus the libero—from last year's team that went 21-9 overall and reached the NCAA Championship tournament for a sixth consecutive season. She also will welcome a stellar freshman class, ranked the 18th best recruiting class in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com, when the Aggies officially report to campus August 7 and begin organized preseason training on August 8.
The Aggies open the regular season by hosting a two-day tournament against Sam Houston State, Texas State and Virginia Commonwealth on August 25-26 at Reed Arena and open the SEC season at LSU on Sept. 22.
The full season volleyball schedule is available at 12thMan.com.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the team on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.
2017 SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll
(First-Place Votes in Parentheses)
Place School Points
1. Florida (7) 139
2. Kentucky (6) 138
3. Missouri 121
4. TEXAS A&M 110
5. Auburn 96
6. Tennessee 79
7. South Carolina 73
8. Arkansas 70
9. LSU 56
10. Alabama 48
11 Georgia 42
12. Ole Miss 28
13. Mississippi State 14
2017 Preseason All-SEC Team
Name, School Pos. Yr. Ht. Hometown
Pilar Victoria, Arkansas OH R-Sr. 5-11 Caguas, Puerto Rico
Rhamat Alhassan, Florida MB Jr. 6-4 Glenarden, Md.
Carli Snyder, Florida OH Jr. 6-1 Macomb, Mich.
Kaz Brown, Kentucky MB Sr. 6-4 Waterloo, Iowa
Ashley Dusek, Kentucky DS Sr. 5-7 East Bernard, Texas
Leah Edmond, Kentucky OH So. 6-2 Lexington, Ky.
Melanie Crow, Missouri OH R-Sr. 6-1 Wildwood, Co.
Alyssa Munlyn, Missouri MB Jr. 6-2 Suwanee, Ga.
Mikayla Shields, South Carolina RS/OH So. 6-0 Orlando, Fla.
Kaitlyn Blake, Texas A&M MB Jr. 6-2 Allen, Texas