Colorado State University Athletics
Volleyball Picked Second
8/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
In the Mountain West Conference volleyball poll, released today, the Colorado State Rams? volleyball team was chosen to finish second in the league this season. Utah is the favorite after winning the MWC Tournament the last two seasons.
The eight head coaches in the Mountain West Conference make the votes. Utah earned five of the first-place votes and had 47 points. The defending regular season champion Rams? had two first place votes and are second in points with 41. BYU is third with 36 points followed by San Diego State, UNLV, Wyoming, New Mexico and Air Force, respectively.
Utah returns last season?s MWC Tournament MVP Kim Turner and she was selected as the preseason Player of the Year. CSU has three all-conference players returning for another season. Junior setter Melissa Courtney led the league in assists per game while junior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley led the MWC in hitting percentage. The third all-conference returnee is junior libero Lindsey Kerr who set a conference record last season with 433 digs. Kerr and Courtney were both selected to the preseason all-MWC team as the libero and setter of the league, respectively.
These three returnees are not the only weapons that CSU will bring to the court this year. Also returning is MWC Freshman of the Year Tess Rogers. Rogers set the conference freshman record for kills with 419. Junior Becky Sarauer and sophomores Casey Bauer and Andreya Downs round out the returners from the 2002 team.
Colorado State opens the season on August 29 against Stanford, which advanced to the NCAA Finals, in the first round of the UPHI Classic in Moby Arena at 7:00 p.m.
2003 Mountain West Preseason Coaches Poll Rk. Team (1st Votes) Points 1. Utah (5) 47 2. Colorado State (2) 41 3. BYU 36 4. San Diego State (1) 35 5. UNLV 23 6. Wyoming 22 7. New Mexico 13 8. Air Force 7 2003 Mountain West Preseason All-Conference Team Player Class Position Team Kim Turner Sr. MB Utah (Player of the Year) Aspen McPartland Sr. MB San Diego State Michele Rauter Sr. OH Wyoming Kelsie Kartchner Jr. S Utah Laura Nielsen Sr. MB BYU Setter: Melissa Courtney Jr. Colorado State Libero: Lindsey Kerr Jr. Colorado State
