Anonymous Eagle - 2014 Marquette Volleyball PreviewYour home for coverage of Wisconsin's elite college athletics.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46843/anon-fave.png2014-08-28T16:00:03-05:00http://www.anonymouseagle.com/rss/stream/57708822014-08-28T16:00:03-05:002014-08-28T16:00:03-05:00Three Questions For Women's Volleyball
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<img alt="Can sophomore Autumn Bailey live up to the hype?" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LBg2G2gGG0pIux8KUAuxhrzCpRw=/195x228:732x586/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/37624464/20131122_WV_188_MB.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Can sophomore Autumn Bailey live up to the hype? | <a href='http://www.marquetteimages.com'>MarquetteImages.com</a></figcaption>
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<p>We wrap up our preview of the 2014 volleyball season by addressing three questions about the upcoming season.</p> <h4>1) Can they repeat?</h4>
<p>Had you asked in June, I might have said no. The loss of Elizabeth Koberstein, the 2013 Big East Player of the Year, as well as the departure of head coach Bond Shymansky to Iowa seemed like a steep hill to climb. But four of the Big East coaches don't seem to think that's going to derail the Golden Eagles, as <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bigeast.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/082014aaa.html">they picked Marquette as the favorite in the preseason poll</a>.</p>
<p>Marquette suffered just one loss in conference play last year, which came on their road trip to Creighton. To find the last time that Marquette lost to a Big East team that's not Creighton, we have to wander all the way back to September 26, 2010, when MU fell in five sets while visiting Georgetown. I don't expect that streak to last forever, and with a new system under head coach Ryan Theis, it might even end this season. But for now, the talent level on the Marquette roster is such that MU's chances at a second straight Big East regular season title or a second straight Big East tournament title will depend on how they deal with the Bluejays in their two regular season meetings this season.</p>
<h4>2) Can Autumn Bailey actually win Player of the Year in November?</h4>
<p>Well, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bigeast.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/082014aaa.html">Bailey's the preseason Player of the Year</a>, so I guess anything's possible. I had Creighton's Kelli Browning as <a target="_blank" href="http://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/8/12/5990831/2014-big-east-womens-volleyball-preseason-awards-kelli-browning-creighton">my pick for the best player</a> heading into the season, and given that Browning's a senior, she might have an advantage at the end of the season, too. If Marquette figures out a way to edge out the Bluejays for a regular season title, I would have to figure that would work to Bailey's advantage.</p>
<p>One thing we also have to consider is how Coach Theis is going to deploy Bailey. We can probably count on her for roughly the same attack and serving stats as last year. The difference might come on defense. As a freshman, Bailey averaged 3.11 digs/set, which was second on the team only to libero Julie Jeziorowski. If Theis has Bailey playing the same way, then her multidimensional play will help her case. Browning has blocks going for her (a Big East best 1.53/set in 2013) as well as hitting percentage (6th best in the Big East last year), so Bailey will need to demonstrate an all over the court kind of game to be named the best player in the Big East as a sophomore.</p>
<h4>3) Who's going to be the setter?</h4>
<p>Sadly, the answer is not Elizabeth Koberstein. I don't know what game Bisky was playing in 2013, but at times it seemed like she was playing something that wasn't volleyball, based on her abject dominance at the setter spot. Marquette will turn to either redshirt sophomore Mary Nilles or freshman Gabby Benda to replace Koberstein this season.</p>
<p>Nilles has a slight advantage given her two seasons of the grind of the collegiate volleyball season. Working against her is not having played a live competitive volleyball match since the fall of 2012, as Koberstein was too good to take off the floor. Benda's advantage is that she was one of the best players in all of high school volleyball last year, and one of the 21 best setters in the country to boot. While she might be more skilled, she doesn't have any collegiate experience to speak of, of course. With that said, three years ago, Chelsea Heier stepped in at setter for Marquette as a freshman and guided the offense to the program's first ever NCAA tournament bid.</p>
<p>Coach Theis still hasn't made a final decision on the topic, telling <a target="_blank" href="http://onlyfans.cstv.com/schools/marq/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/082714aac.html">GoMarquette.com in their season preview</a> that he expects to use both women on the court early on in the season, so it will be a trial by fire to see who ends up with the full time job.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/8/28/6078551/marquette-volleyball-2014-preview-three-questions-bailey-nilles-benda-theisBrewtown Andy2014-08-28T09:56:36-05:002014-08-28T09:56:36-05:00Volleyball Preview: The Newcomers
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<figcaption><a href='http://www.marquetteimages.com'>Maggie Bean/MarquetteImages.com</a></figcaption>
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<p>We already looked at the returners, so now it's time to see who's going to be joining head coach Ryan Theis in his first season on the Al McGuire Center sidelines.</p> <h4 align="center">A Slightly Familiar Face</h4>
<p>Marquette has one redshirt freshman on the roster in defensive specialist Nicki Barnes. She appeared in one match last year, but missed the rest of the season due to injury and earned a medical redshirt for the season. Now she's one of four defenders on the roster, and listed at 5'10", the same height as 2014 Big East Preseason Player of the Year Autumn Bailey, not your typical defensive specialist. It probably isn't a surprise to you to find out that she led Benet (IL) Academy to a 40-2 record and a top 15 national ranking her senior year as an outside hitter.</p>
<p>But for now, especially with Marquette's loaded group of hitters, she's looking to earn time on defense. If Coach Theis' plans for a rotation is at all similar to Bond Shymansky's, there's going to be space for Barnes to play. Last year, Marquette mostly used Ellie Rauch on defense with Julie Jeziorowski at libero, with Cat Mayer and Rachel Stier subbing in as needed. The latter three in that sentence are gone now, leaving space for Barnes to find a way onto the court along with Ellen Hays, and Lauren Houg.</p>
<h4 align="center">The Transfers</h4>
<p>Joining Marquette this season after experience at another school are <a target="_blank" href="http://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/5/23/5740770/marquette-volleyball-ellen-hays-transfer-toledo-ryan-theis">defensive specialist Ellen Hays</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/6/24/5839244/courtney-kintzel-joins-marquette-volleyball-in-2014">middle hitter Courtney Kintzel</a>. Both women provide an aspect that Marquette lacked heading into this season, with Hays playing every match at libero as a freshman for Toledo and Kintzel averaging more blocks than any MU player while playing for Northern Iowa.</p>
<p>Under Shymansky, Marquette was never a strong blocking team, but in 2013, Theis' Ohio squad was one of the 30 best blocking squads in the country. That combination should give Kintzel a chance to work herself into the rotation behind Big East preseason all-conference unanimous selection Meghan Niemann, but with Schnurr already there and the 6'5" Jackie Kocken, it's an experienced group to compete with.</p>
<p>Hays, on the other hand, figures to play early and often. It's unclear as to who will pull on the gold libero jersey tomorrow in Colorado. If Shymansky was still the coach, I would say it would be Rauch, without a doubt. But Theis is in charge, and he's familiar with Hays from the time they spent together in the Mid-American Conference. In addition, Hays has experience with the vagaries of the rules regarding the libero position after a full season at Toledo, while Rauch never played at libero in her two seasons at Marquette. Regardless of that, though, both Rauch and Hays will be key components for Marquette this season, regardless of who wears blue and who wears gold.</p>
<h4 align="center">The Freshmen</h4>
<p>There are three freshmen on the Marquette roster this season. The most notable one right off the bat will be Gabby Benda. Quite simply, her path to the court is the easiest. Benda is a setter from Raleigh, North Carolina, where she led Wakefield High School not only as captain for her final two years, but also to the school's first Class AAAA state title in her senior year. Benda averaged 10.50 assists per set her senior year, earning conference co-player of the year honors and landing herself in the Honorable Mention category of Under Armour's All-American list. All of that past history puts her neck and neck with redshirt sophomore Mary Nilles for the starting setter position, and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gomarquette.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/082714aac.html">even Theis doesn't know who's going to come out ahead</a>.</p>
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<p>"Mary and Gabby have gone back and forth and we are looking for who can set the most hittable balls and who can get hitters in the best position. It might be a 6-2 offense or a 5-1 with one setter or the other. The season will have its ebbs and flows with that process. You will see both of them this fall at some point, I can guarantee that."</p>
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<p>Also joining the team as freshmen are outside hitter Taylor Louis and middle hitter Jenna Rosenthal. Louis is a multidimensional player, breaking Niles (IL) North High's record for career kills and kills in a season, but also finishing fifth all time in digs and seventh in blocks. NNHS won conference titles each of Louis' last two seasons and she was named conference player of the year her senior year. Unfortunately for her, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gomarquette.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/082714aac.html">she's recovering from a preseason injury</a> and Marquette is deep as all get out on the outsides.</p>
<p>Rosenthal is even further from the court, as <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gomarquette.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/082714aac.html">she's being considered for a redshirt in 2014</a>. She's 6'5", though, and if Theis is going to have a focus on blocks, it's hard to turn down that kind of size. She left Fond Du Lac (WI) High School as the school's all time leader in blocks, and she only earned two varsity letters in volleyball. Rosenthal also set the single season record for blocks and kills, and that .422 hitting percentage in her senior season definitely helped towards the latter. Fun Fact: Due to her academic focus in high school, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gomarquette.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/082614aaa.html">Rosenthal enters Marquette with sophomore academic standing</a> in the College of Engineering as a civil engineering major.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/8/28/6078065/marquette-volleyball-2014-preview-barnes-hays-kintzel-benda-louis-rosenthal-ryan-theisBrewtown Andy2014-08-25T14:00:03-05:002014-08-25T14:00:03-05:00Volleyball Preview: The Returning Roster
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<figcaption><a href='http://www.marquetteimages.com'>MarquetteImages.com</a></figcaption>
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<p>The season opens on Friday in Colorado, so let's spend some time this week looking at what new head coach Ryan Theis has at his disposal.</p> <p>For simplicity's sake, we're going to divide the team into two groups: Defensive Specialists and Everyone Else. We'll start with the latter group...</p>
<h4 align="center">Everyone Else</h4>
<p>I don't know if we can have a discussion about Marquette's offensive players without starting with Autumn Bailey. The sophomore from Burlington, Ontario, was named the Big East's preseason Player of the Year last week, and for good reason. Not only was she one of two players to average more than four kills per set last year, but she also chipped in on the defensive side with three digs/set, too. Her powerful righty attack also gives her a nasty serve, as she finished second on the team and tied for third in the conference in service aces.</p>
<p>Bailey is joined on the outside by fellow sophomore Nele Barber and junior Erin Lehman. Barber took a while to break into the lineup last season, but when she did, she provided MU with firepower by the bucket. She finished second on the team in kills/set while hitting just a shade under .300. Lehman was a featured player in 2012, picking up 20 starts in 34 appearances, but in 2013, she only saw action in 44 sets in 19 contests. Her playing time may have been down, but her accuracy was up, improving her hitting percentage from .188 to .215.</p>
<p>Marquette's lone returning right side hitter is senior Lindsey Gosh. It's kind of funny to consider her as a right side hitter as she's left-handed, but there you go. Gosh has been one of the best developing players under former coach Bond Shymansky. While she made just 9 appearances in her freshman year, she was installed as a starter from day one sophomore year and only didn't start all of MU's matches last season due to a minor injury keeping her in reserve for one match. She had a power game from the get go, but has refined her accuracy, improving her hitting percentage from .198 in 2012 to .297 last season. Her leaping lefty serve was always strong, but it became imposing in 2013 when she led the Big East in service aces.</p>
<p>Coach Theis has an interesting crew of middle hitters at his disposal. Redshirt sophomore Meghan Niemann was a unanimous selection to the Big East's preseason all-conference team along with Bailey and Gosh. She finished 2013 with the third best kills average on the team and the third best hitting percentage in the Big East, too. Marquette wasn't a particularly adept blocking team in 2013 (7th best in the Big East), but things on that front improved when sophomore Teal Schnurr took redshirt sophomore Jackie Kocken's spot in the rotation. Schnurr cracked the lineup for the last 16 matches of the season and ended up matching her kills average right with her blocks average at 1.14 each per set. Had Schnurr played more in 2013, that blocks average would have ranked her 7th best in the Big East. It remains to be seen how Theis will deploy either player, but with Schnurr at 6'4" and Kocken at 6'5", let's just say he's got options.</p>
<p>With the departure of 2013 Big East Player of the Year Elizabeth Koberstein, redshirt sophomore Mary Nilles is the only returning setter on the roster, and I only realized that she was a redshirt sophomore just now. There's a lesson for you burgeoning coaches out there: Let your best player stay on the floor at all times, as Nilles didn't replace Koberstein for even a moment in 2013. I don't know if Nilles will be the choice to start for MU this season (more on that when we talk about the newcomers), but she only has five total collegiate appearances because she was playing behind Koberstein. Nilles was an all-state performer her junior and senior years at Batavia (IL), where she finished 2nd all time in blocks, as well as fourth all time in aces and assists.</p>
<p>Defensive Specialists</p>
<p>This is going to be a much shorter section, which is why I held it off for down here. MU has just two returning defensive specialists following the end of the careers of Julie Jeziorowski, Cat Mayer, and Rachel Stier. One is Ellie Rauch, a junior from Dubuque, Iowa, and the other is Lauren Houg, a native of Plymouth, MN, who is entering her second year with the Golden Eagles.</p>
<p>If Bond Shymansky had remained at Marquette instead of going home to Iowa, I would be willing to bet large sums of money that Rauch would be the libero in 2014. Rauch started all 32 matches in 2013 at DS, averaging 2.38 digs per set and a quietly pretty great 0.14 aces/set. With the hiring of Coach Theis, things have changed slightly with <a target="_blank" href="http://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/5/23/5740770/marquette-volleyball-ellen-hays-transfer-toledo-ryan-theis">the arrival of Ellen Hays</a>, but it's still a very safe bet that we'll see lots of Rauch on the floor this season.</p>
<p>Houg is a different story. She appeared in seven sets in five matches for MU in 2013, and generally didn't appear to be acclimated to the college game when she was in the game. The team held an open scrimmage this past Saturday afternoon and <a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/patrickkleary/status/503263491529383937">noted friend of the show Patrick Leary reports</a> that Houg was one of the liberos to start play, while Rauch was not. Eventually, <a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/patrickkleary/status/503366564264312832">Rauch would put the gold jersey</a> on for the intra-team competition, but this is an indication to me that Rauch might be closer to earning time on the floor as a DS on a regular basis while Houg might be looking at spending time as Hays' back up at libero. With just four defensive specialists on the roster in total, Marquette may need contributions from all of them by the end of the season.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/8/25/6006771/2014-marquette-volleyball-preview-the-returning-rosterBrewtown Andy2014-08-21T09:00:03-05:002014-08-21T09:00:03-05:00Bailey Named BE Preseason Player Of The Year
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<img alt="Autumn Bailey is the coaches' pick as the best player in the Big East heading into the 2014 season." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-kHJJ5rEaO1lqVjK3ipZz4w8pZo=/200x32:768x411/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/37246072/20130906_WV_113_MB.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Autumn Bailey is the coaches' pick as the best player in the Big East heading into the 2014 season. | <a href='http://www.marquetteimages.com'>MarquetteImages.com</a></figcaption>
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<p>Woah, that's kind of a surprise! Plus: MU was picked to finish second in the Big East this season, and three Golden Eagles in all were named to the all-conference team!</p> <p>The results of the preseason poll of the Big East's volleyball coaches are in. The item of largest importance for Marquette fans is that sophomore outside hitter and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/7/29/5947787/the-marquette-related-tweet-of-the-week-7-22-7-28">noted meme topic</a> Autumn Bailey was named the Big East's preseason Player of the Year. This is the second straight season where a Golden Eagle received that honor, as Elizabeth Koberstein was named co-Player of the Year with Creighton's Kelli Browning prior to the 2013 season.</p>
<p>Bailey winning the vote amongst the Big East coaches isn't entirely surprising. If you drill down to only Big East matches last season, she had a league high 4.61 kills per set, and hit .306, which had her eighth best in the conference in that regard. She's clearly deserving, based on last year, and her ability to contribute on the defensive end, as well. However, Koberstein was a passing wizard and was named the 2013 postseason Big East Player of the Year. It remains to be seen if a less experienced setter is going to be able to get the ball to Bailey as well, which is why <a target="_blank" href="http://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/8/12/5990831/2014-big-east-womens-volleyball-preseason-awards-kelli-browning-creighton">my choice for this award</a> was the aforementioned Kelli Browning.</p>
<p>The Golden Eagles finished second to Creighton in the predicted order of finish balloting. The Bluejays picked up five of the first place votes and 77 points overall, while Marquette had 4 ballots where they were listed on top and ended up with 71 points. Xavier snared the final first place vote and landed in third with 66 points. Butler and St. John's rounded out the top five, which means <a target="_blank" href="http://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/8/12/5990831/2014-big-east-womens-volleyball-preseason-awards-kelli-browning-creighton">I correctly predicted the order</a> for the top five teams. Seton Hall was the final team to crack 40 points as they ended up in sixth place, followed by Villanova (29 points), Georgetown (25), DePaul (21). Providence makes their return to the Big East for volleyball for the first time since 2001 and finished last in the preseason ballot with 10 points.</p>
<p>Let's check out the all-conference team, shall we?</p>
<p>Autumn Bailey, Marquette, So., OH ^ <br>Abbey Bessler, Xavier, So., OH ^ <br>Alex Blair, Xavier, R-Sr., MB <br>Kelli Browning, Creighton, Sr., MB ^ <br>Lindsey Gosh, Marquette, Sr., RS ^ <br>Shelbey Manthorpe, Seton Hall, Sr., S <br>Leah McNary, Creighton, Sr., OH <br>Meghan Niemann, Marquette, R-So., MH ^ <br>Belle Obert, Butler, Sr., OH ^ <br>Karin Palgutova, St. John’s, Jr., OH <br>Aubree Smith, Xavier, Sr., S ^ <br>Erica Stahl, Butler, Sr., MB <br>Aleksandra Wachowicz, St. John’s, Sr., OH</p>
<p>As you can see from the carrots next to some of the names, seven different players were listed on every single ballot that they could show up on, as coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players. Marquette has three players on the all-conference team, and all three of them - Bailey, redshirt sophomore Meghan Niemann, and senior Lindsey Gosh - were all unanimous choices. I suppose that's how you compensate for the loss of your dominant setter and your head coach to end up with 4 first place votes.</p>
<p>There were 13 spots on the all-conference team due to a tie somewhere in the voting, leaving me with 10 correct names from my predicted all-Big East squad. The main miss was due to my insistence on including a libero, which did not happen on the official team. I included Creighton's Michelle Sicner at setter as well, based on her performance last year, but word out of Omaha is that she's in a bit of a battle to see who ends up with the job for the nationally ranked Bluejays. I'm somewhat surprised to see Manthorpe end up on the list, as she finished last in assists per set amongst the Big East's regular setters, and not by a small margin, either. She had 8.76 assists/set, while the setter in front of her on the stat sheet, Georgetown's Caitlin Brauneis, had 9.98/set. I'm guessing Gosh worked her way onto the list by way of her ability to serve the ball and lead the league in aces in 2013, while Wachowicz finished the season third in the Big East in kills per set, making her a worthy choice here.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/8/21/6052221/marquette-volleyball-autum-bailey-big-east-2014-preseason-player-of-the-yearBrewtown Andy2014-08-12T16:30:02-05:002014-08-12T16:30:02-05:00Predicting the 2014 BE Volleyball Preseason Awards
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<img alt="Meghan Niemann is one of two Golden Eagles that deserve a spot on the Big East's preseason all-conference team." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KwkzSbnobWUSvpPvlV2khkAiUfU=/0x139:1068x851/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/36856154/20131123_WV_136_MB.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Meghan Niemann is one of two Golden Eagles that deserve a spot on the Big East's preseason all-conference team. | <a href='http://www.marquetteimages.com'>MarquetteImages.com</a></figcaption>
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<p>No, we didn't forget about you, volleyball. You're just so far away, relative to soccer.</p> <p>We've already done predictions for the preseason awards for women's soccer and men's soccer, so now we turn our attention to the third and final fall team sport that Marquette where is currently the reigning and defending regular season and tournament champion.</p>
<p>Volleyball provides an interesting twist this season, as Providence joins the Big East. The Friars had been playing volleyball in the America East conference for the last four seasons, and had originally left the Big East following the 2001 season to compete as an independent. This brings volleyball to the full complement of 10 Big East teams competing in the sport, plus we have to figure out where the Friars fit into the picture of potential all-conference players.</p>
<h5>Preseason Player Of The Year: Kelli Browning, MB, Creighton</h5>
<p>It's a pretty stacked deck of candidates, as we'll get to in a minute. I'm going with Browning, for a number of reasons. First, her crazy block average of 1.53 per set. She finished tied for seventh best in the country last year, and wasn't that far from being tied for fourth at 1.54/set. She also had the sixth best hitting percentage in the conference last year, giving her an impressive double whammy on the Big East leaderboards. Browning was also co-preseason player of the year last August when she tied with Marquette's Elizabeth Koberstein, so I'm willing to mark "next best to someone who appeared to be playing an entirely different sport" in Browning's favor.</p>
<h5>All-Big East Team</h5>
<p>Belle Obert, OH, Butler<br>Erica Stahl, MB, Butler<br>Kelli Browning, MB, Creighton<br>Leah McNary, OH, Creighton<br>Michelle Sicner, S, Creighton<br>Autumn Bailey, OH, Marquette<br>Meghan Niemann, MB, Marquette<br>Karin Palgutova, OH, St. John's<br>Shawna-Lei Santos, L, St. John's<br>Abbey Bessler, OH, Xavier<br>Alex Blair, MB, Xavier<br>Aubree Smith, S, Xavier</p>
<p>This was a very easy preseason all-conference team to put together, as there were just three seniors on last year's postseason All-Big East First Team, and as it turns out, Providence didn't have anyone that would have landed on any of the Big East's leaderboards last season. Doesn't take a lot of effort to figure out who nine of the best players in the league are at that point, y'know? There were just three seniors on the Second Team, too, so I just snagged Sicner and Blair from there to replace Koberstein and Xavier's Alex Smith. The one hitch in the plan is the coaches voted three liberos to the all-conference teams at the conclusion of play last year, and all three were seniors. The three senior liberos - Alyssa Warren, Mariah Henley, and Julie Jeziorowski - also had the three highest digs averages in the conference, making this slightly more complicated, especially since not one libero earned a weekly honor last season. The fourth highest digs average belonged to Santos, so she's my pick to represent the defensive end of the Big East.</p>
<h5>Top Five Teams</h5>
<p>1. Creighton<br>2. Marquette<br>3. Xavier<br>4. Butler<br>5. St. John's</p>
<p>I mean, come on. It's a Creighton team that gave Marquette fits last season, made the 2013 NCAA tournament, and returns all of their major players. Easy pick to win the league, and that's before I factor in Marquette's loss of Koberstein and Jeziorowski, not to mention the change from Bond Shymansky to Ryan Theis on the bench for the Golden Eagles. Xavier and Butler bring back most of their crews and they qualified for the Big East tournament a year ago, so you can't go wrong there. The rest of the league is a coin toss, but by way of Palgutova being the best hitter in the league (4.36 kills/set in 2013) and Santos being the best returning libero, I'll give them the five hole. I don't know what to make of Providence as they make the move after going 12-20 overall and 4-10 in the America East last season, but I can say that they bring back their four best hitters, their setter, and their libero, so they'll at least be experienced.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/8/12/5990831/2014-big-east-womens-volleyball-preseason-awards-kelli-browning-creightonBrewtown Andy2014-08-11T15:23:34-05:002014-08-11T15:23:34-05:00MU Receives Votes In AVCA Preseason Top 25
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<img alt="Jackie Kocken (12) and Nele Barber (3) are amongst the deep lineup of hitters that earned MU votes in the AVCA preseason poll." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7mjUVsXeyAz1dbsQdv9kObgmGaw=/143x0:798x437/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/36805260/20130906_WV_026_MB.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Jackie Kocken (12) and Nele Barber (3) are amongst the deep lineup of hitters that earned MU votes in the AVCA preseason poll. | <a href='http://www.marquetteimages.com'>MarquetteImages.com</a></figcaption>
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<p>Lose your coach, lose the conference's best player, barely slip in the national rankings. Not bad, really.</p> <p>The American Volleyball Coaches' Association <a target="_blank" href="http://www.avca.org/divisions/division-one-women/poll-8-11-14di/">released their preseason Top 25</a> today. The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette Golden Eagles</a> racked up 102 points in the balloting, landing them 27 points and four spots outside #25.</p>
<p>Marquette finished last year at #23 after entering the Top 25 for the first time in program history on November 25th. Head coach Bond Shymansky departed for Iowa in the offseason, and Marquette lost Elizabeth Koberstein, the 2013 Big East Player of the Year, and Julie Jeziorowski, MU's all time digs leader, to the end of their eligibility. That's three significant losses, but even with taking that into account, MU only slipped seven slots in the rankings based on the talent of the hitters that Marquette has returning this fall.</p>
<p>We'll get an early read on whether Marquette deserves to be ranked, as the third match of the year comes against #18 Colorado State in a tournament that the Rams are hosting. All told, Marquette will see seven teams that received votes in the preseason poll. #10 Florida, #13 Florida State, the aforementioned #18 Rams, two games against #23 Creighton as a part of Big East play, and #24 American University are all on the schedule, as are Texas-San Antonio, who had three points, and California-Santa Barbara, who had 26 points.</p>
<p>Marquette will open their season on August 30 against UCSB as a part of the tournament that Colorado State is hosting.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/8/11/5992337/marquette-volleyball-receives-votes-in-avca-preseason-pollBrewtown Andy