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OGDEN, Utah (August 11, 2017) – After its first NCAA tournament berth in school history, North Dakota was picked to repeat as Big Sky Champions in the 2017 volleyball coaches’ preseason poll.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the poll, which was released Friday by the league office.
The Fighting Hawks emerged from the pack with 10 first-place votes and 120 points out of a possible 121 points in the voting. North Dakota took the league by storm last year, winning the Big Sky tournament without losing a single set. Overall, the Fighting Hawks posted a 26-10 record and lost to Minnesota in their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.
North Dakota has reason to rejoice as most of its championship squad returns in 2017. First off, the 2016 Big Sky Coach of the Year, Mark Pryor, is back at the helm to guide three returning All-Conference honorees. The Fighting Hawks senior-laden lineup includes setter Sydney Griffin, middle hitter Faith Dooley and outside hitter Tamara Merseli. Griffin was named the Big Sky’s Most Valuable Player with Dooley picking up MVP honors at the conference tournament, while Merseli was tabbed the conference’s Newcomer of the Year.
Northern Colorado was picked second with 103 points and two first-place votes. After a five-set defeat to Idaho State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament last season, the Bears look to rebound and retool in 2017. Head coach Lyndsey Oates will challenge Big Sky opponents with a duo of second team All-Conference selections in senior middle blocker Alex Kloehn and junior outside hitter Kortney Lockey. Both Kloehn and Lockey propelled the Bears to league bests in kills (843), kill average (14.53 kills/set) and hitting percentage (.256) during conference play last season.
Sacramento State came in third with 99 points in the poll. The Hornets notched a record of 20-12 and advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 Big Sky tournament before falling to Northern Arizona in four sets. Sacramento State lost several seniors, but are fortified by the return of senior setter Kennedy Kurtz and senior outside hitter Shannon Boyle. Kurtz led the Big Sky in assist average over all matches a season ago with 11.29 assists per set. Additionally, the Hornets were the conference leader in assist average (12.83/set), kill average (13.80/set) and dig average (17.71) over all matches in 2016.
Northern Arizona ranked fourth with 96 points. The Lumberjacks back-to-back bid came up short in the conference championship match last season, bowing out to North Dakota 3-0. NAU lost two first team all-conference honorees in setter Jensen Barton and outside hitter Lauren Jacobsen. Despite losing two veterans, Northern Arizona has two of the best middle blockers in the conference in sophomore Abby Akin and junior Brittni Dorsey. Akin was tabbed the conference’s Outstanding Freshman as she recorded a hitting percentage of .367, which is 12th best all-time in Big Sky conference history. Dorsey led the conference in total aces (64) and ace average (.580) as a sophomore in 2016.
Portland State earned the nod at the fifth spot with 82 points, while Idaho State was ranked sixth with 71 points. Idaho was seventh with 63 points along with Weber State in eighth with 49 points.
Rounding out the poll was Eastern Washington (9th, 44 points), Montana State (10th, 24), Montana (11th, 21) and Southern Utah (12th, 20).
The 2017 season begins August 25 and conference play opens September 21. The top eight teams will advance to the 2017 Big Sky Championship. The top eight will be decided by overall conference winning percentage, regardless of division. The two division winners will get the No. 1 and 2 seeds in the tournament. The Big Sky tournament will be held Nov. 16-18 at the site of the regular-season champion.
Home matches in the Big Sky Conference will be seen on
Pluto TV. Also, the Big Sky semifinal and championship matches will be nationally televised on Eleven Sports.
| 1 |
North Dakota |
|
120 (10) |
| 2 |
Northern Colorado |
103 (2) |
| 3 |
Sacramento State |
|
99 |
| 4 |
Northern Arizona |
|
96 |
| 5 |
Portland State |
|
82 |
| 6 |
Idaho State |
|
71 |
| 7 |
Idaho |
|
63 |
| 8 |
Weber State |
|
49 |
| 9 |
Eastern Washington |
44 |
| 10 |
Montana State |
|
24 |
| 11 |
Montana |
|
21 |
| 12 |
Southern Utah |
|
20 |
(Number of first-place votes in parentheses)