BIG 12 Preseason Poll & Awards

[vbobsessed]

2007 Big 12 Conference Preseason Volleyball Poll, Awards Announced

Nebraska's Pavan named Preseason Player of the Year

Aug. 7, 2007

IRVING, Texas - Defending national champion Nebraska has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 title for the 11th consecutive season in a vote of the league's head coaches, the conference office announced. The Huskers received 10 of the possible 11 first-place votes while tallying 100 points overall. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.

Last season, NU earned its third NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship while compiling a 33-1 overall record. The Huskers also claimed their ninth Big 12 crown (1996, `98-02, `04-06) after posting a 19-1 mark in conference action. Right-side hitter Sarah Pavan, the 2006 AVCA Player of the Year, headlines the Nebraska roster. Four additional All-Americans will also be featured amongst the returning starters -- setter Rachel Holloway, outside hitters Christina Houghtelling and Jordan Larson, and middle blocker Tracy Stalls. The Huskers will also have three other players with starting experience on the squad including middle blockers Kori Cooper and Amanda Gates and defensive specialist/libero Rachel Schwartz.

Texas was second behind NU with 91 points, including one first-place vote. The Longhorns were followed by Missouri, Texas A&M and Colorado filling the top five spots. Iowa State was sixth with Kansas State, Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Tech rounding out the poll.

Nebraska paced the conference with a Big 12 record five preseason All-Big 12 selections, including Holloway, Houghtelling, Larson, Pavan and Stalls.

Pavan was named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year for the third consecutive season. In 2006, the two-time Big 12 Player of the Year led the conference in kills (5.10 - school record) and points (5.99) per game while hitting .313 on the season. Pavan ranked 10th nationally in kills per game and reached double figures in kills in 33 of 34 matches, including 10 with at least 20 kills. She was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Championship after posting 5.50 kills and 2.88 digs per game in victories over No. 4 UCLA and No. 2 Stanford. Pavan was awarded numerous awards for her performance in `06 including the Honda-Broderick Cup, Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year and ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American of the Year.

Nataly Korobkova (Kansas State) was tabbed the Preseason Newcomer of the Year. The 6-3 outside hitter joined the Wildcats at the beginning of the second semester in 2007 and participated in spring workouts and matches. At the Great Lakes Invitational in Chicago, Korobkova tallied 39 kills and a .300 hitting percentage in KSU's final spring tournament. Prior to coming to K-State, Korobkova was a member of the Russian Junior National Team.

Juliann Faucette (Texas) was selected as the Preseason Freshman of the Year. It marks the second straight season that a Longhorn has received this honor (Ashley Engle). Faucette was a four-year starter for Westview High School in San Diego, while being tabbed as the nation's No. 2 recruit by Prep Volleyball. Last summer, Faucette was the second-highest scorer for the USA Women's Junior National Team, which won a gold medal at the 2006 NORCECA Continental Women's Junior Championships in Mexico. Faucette also competed for the USA National Team at the Azteca Cup last September.

Big 12 conference teams open the season the weekend of Aug. 24, while conference action is slated to begin on Sept. 12. 2007


BIG 12 PRESEASON VOLLEYBALL POLL & AWARDS PRESEASON COACHES POLL Rank Team (First-place Votes) Points
1. Nebraska (10) 100
2. Texas (1) 91
3. Missouri 68
4. Texas A&M 66
5. Colorado 62
6. Iowa State 57
7. Kansas State 54
8. Baylor 42
9. Oklahoma 31
10. Kansas 23
11. Texas Tech 11
Note: Ten points were awarded for first-place votes, nine for second, etc. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.

Preseason Player of the Year: Sarah Pavan, Nebraska, RS, Sr., 6-5, Kitchener, Ontario/Forest Heights Collegiate Institute

Preseason Newcomer of the Year: Nataly Korobkova, Kansas State Jr., OH, 6-3, Krasnoyarsk, Russia/State Siberian Technological

Preseason Freshman of the Year: Juliann Faucette, Texas, OH, 6-2, San Diego, Calif./Westview

PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 TEAM Name School Pos. Cl. Ht. Hometown/Previous School

Taylor Barnes Baylor S So. 5-11 Arlington, Texas/Martin

Amber Sutherland Colorado OH Sr. 5-10 Glenwood Springs, Colo./Glenwood Springs

Erin Boeve Iowa State OH/RS Sr. 6-2 Steen, Minn./Hills-Beaver Creek

Kaylee Manns Iowa State S So. 5-10 Topeka, Kan./Washburn Rural

Tatum Ailes Missouri L Sr. 5-6 Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue West

Na Yang Missouri OH Sr. 6-3 Shan Dong, China/Shan Dong Sports

Rachel Holloway Nebraska S So. 5-10 Franklin, Tenn./Smoky Hill (Colo.)

Christina Houghtelling Nebraska OH Sr. 6-2 Cambridge, Neb./Cambridge

Jordan Larson Nebraska OH Jr. 6-2 Hooper, Neb./Logan View

Sarah Pavan Nebraska RS Sr. 6-5 Kitchener, Ontario/Forest Heights Collegiate Institute

Tracy Stalls Nebraska MB Sr. 6-3 Denver, Colo./Lakewood

Ashley Engle Texas S/RS So. 6-3 Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza

Destinee Hooker Texas OH So. 6-4 San Antonio, Texas/Southwest

Michelle Moriarty Texas S Sr. 5-10 Houston, Texas/Stratford

Note: Twelve players are named to the preseason all-conference team -- a tie occurred in voting to result in 14 members this season.

www.big12sports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/080707aaa.html

[Deleted]

I'm surprised Missouri and A&M are ahead of ISU and CU. Should I be?

[vbobsessed]

ruffda said:

I'm surprised Missouri and A&M are ahead of ISU and CU. Should I be?

Maybe....maybe not.

The only ones I got right were the top 2, the bottom 2 and #7. Which makes me think that 3-9 are pretty much up for grabs. This should make for a lot of close, exciting matches in the Big 12 this year.

I AM surprised that TAMU & CU are as high as they are. And that ISU & BU are not higher.

I had NU, UT, ISU, MU, BU, TAMU, KSU, OU, CU, KU & TTU on the Preseason Big 12 thread.

LET THE SEASON BEGIN!

[Tex_VB_Fan]

vbobsessed - Lori Corbelli and a&m lucked out with two transfers. Without the two transfers they are one of the bottom dwellers of conference but with them I would put them in the 5th to 6th range. Baylor is definitely TOO LOW. I'd put them somewhere between 4th & 5th and definitely ahead of a&m.

[Phaedrus]

Yeah, I was thinking Baylor is way too low. Its going to be an alley fight from 2 on down. No disrespect to Texas but they have to show me how they play first.

[Tex_VB_Fan]

phaedrus said:

Yeah, I was thinking Baylor is way too low. Its going to be an alley fight from 2 on down. No disrespect to Texas but they have to show me how they play first.

LOL!

[ADIDAVB]

phaedrus said:

Yeah, I was thinking Baylor is way too low. Its going to be an alley fight from 2 on down. No disrespect to Texas but they have to show me how they play first.

I can respect that......Texas is a perennial underachiever, if they play up to their potential they are hands down #2, poss #1, they could poss tie NU if they split their matches and beat everyone else

[ADIDAVB]

It was a little of a surprise to see MIZZOU ranked so high and Baylor ranked so low, but as they say, "that's why we play the games"

[ADIDAVB]

As for the awards go, I would love to know where the ties occurred to make the team have 14 instead of the normal 12

[pklaboeuf]

if the UT freshman can put it together early then UT is flat out 2 or 1, but if they struggle early there are some hungry teams out there waiting to pounce on Texas

[OverAndUnder]

History carries a lot of weight in these polls.
Mizzou and TAMU are 3 and 4 because over the last ten years they have consistently been in the top 5.
Even with the transfers TAMU will suffer. Their team did not look good last year and it had nothing to do with the skill of their players. I think Baylor will end up at 6th - 5th is a very outside shot but I wouldn't put them at 4th.

The Big12 (especially NU and TX) is loaded with superstar outside hitters, which make this a 14-person all-conference team. Notice that Stalls is the only middle on this "team".

[bearwatch]

Unbelievable. OverandUnder you must be right, history carries a lot of weight in these polls but that's history baby! The team is surely going to use this as a big log on the fire. Gotta give us Bears some Respect Big 12. Oh, well just a stupid poll anyway. That's why they play da games. NOW GO OUT THERE BEARS AND BEAT UP ON THE BIG 12 SO I CAN TALK TRASH ON THIS MESSAGE BOARD!!

[Barefoot In Kailua]

Baylor at nine is about right. Expecting to see the Bears any higher is a reach. Why would a 6-14 conference record warrant a high preseason conference ranking? Baylor's cream puff non conference schedule allowed them to finish above .500 last season but considering those wins were fluff and puff, It's nothing to be impressed with. Furthermore, they got SPANKED by CAL, the only top 25 non conference opponent they faced.

Expecting to see Baylor on any volleyball radar blimp is like sitting in a boat in the middle of Loch Ness expecting Nessie to make an appearence.

[Keystonekid]

Freshman or not, UT has a pretty big gap between themselves and whoever is #3. They do however always seem to drop a match or two that leaves you scratching your head.

[pklaboeuf]

It does seeme like some team makes their year by beating UT out of nowhere, it would be nice if some teams could do that to NU this season too, but not likely