2015 Champion Creighton Picked To Win #BIGEASTvb For Third Time
NEW YORK – Back-to-back BIG EAST Champion Creighton was picked to win the league a third time as the league coaches unanimously picked the Bluejays in the 2016 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll, announced by the Conference on Wednesday. Creighton sophomore outside hitter
Jaali Winters was picked as the Preseason Player of the Year.
Creighton’s unanimous preseason selection with 81 points was followed by Marquette, which had the final first place vote and 70 points, then Xavier (63 points) and Villanova (62 points). The top four of the preseason coaches’ poll were the same top four to finish the 2015 regular season and the four teams to make up the 2015 BIG EAST Championship field.
Butler was picked fifth (41 points), separated by one more point than St. John’s at sixth (40 points). Seton Hall was voted to finish seventh with 31 points, followed by Georgetown (26 points), DePaul (22 points) and Providence (14 points), rounding out the bottom three.
In addition to coaches’ poll and preseason player of the year, the coaches also selected a non-positional 12-member preseason all-conference team. The all-conference team consisted of seven unanimous picks. Creighton and Xavier led with three selections each. Seven of the 12 were outside hitters, three were middle blockers/hitters with a libero and a right side hitter. Eight of the 12 were members of the 2015 All-BIG EAST First Team.
Preseason Player of the Year, Winters, has just one year of collegiate play under her belt and was the unanimous pick for 2015 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year as well as unanimous first team selection in 2015. Outside of the BIG EAST, Winters was an AVCA Third Team All-American, AVCA First Team All-East Region and AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year. Winters was second in the conference play in kills per set (4.39). In the national statistical rankings, she was 10th in kills (second-best among freshman). She set the Creighton single-season records for kills (546) and attack attempts and led the team in kills, points (595.5) and double-doubles (16).
The 2016 edition of the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship presented by Jeep will be held at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis with the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 25 and the championship on Saturday, Nov. 26. Conference play kicks off Tuesday, Sept. 20.
Creighton has won the past two tournament and regular-season league crowns and will look to make it a three-peat in 2016 with the assistance of Winters and preseason all-conference selections senior middle blocker Lauren Smith and senior outside hitter Jess Bird. Smith was First Team All-BIG EAST in 2015 as well as AVCA First Team All-East Region and Honorable Mention AVCA All-American. She averaged 2.48 kills per set and 1.33 blocks per set in conference play. Bird was part of the 2015 All-BIG EAST Second Team and was the 2015 BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player. She averaged 2.82 kills per set and 2.65 digs per set. The Bluejays lost four key players in setter Maggie Baumert, libero Kate Elman and defensive specialists Ashley Jansen and Melanie Jereb, but bring in a key class of five newcomers including a transfer from Purdue in Lydia Dimke and 2015 Under Armour Second Team High School All-American Brittany Witt from Omaha. Creighton went 17-1 in 2016 and advanced to the NCAA Regional Semifinals against No. 1 seed USC.
The coaches’ second-place pick
Marquette placed two on the preseason all-conference team with returning 2015 All-BIG EAST First Team selections sophomore outside hitter Taylor Louis and redshirt senior middle hitter Meghan Niemann. Louis was a unanimous first team selection in 2015 as well as a member of the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team. She led the league in kills (611), kills per set (4.93), points (658 and points per set (5.31). She was also an AVCA All-East Coast Region honoree and AVCA All-America honorable mention. Niemann earned the BIG EAST’s Sport Excellence award in 2015 and was seventh in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.314). The Golden Eagles finished fourth in the league in 2015 with a 12-6 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Marquette brings back its core scorers for 2016 as well as five newcomers.
Xavier, boasted three preseason All-BIG EAST selections in reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year Abbey Bessler, junior outside hitter Kristen Massa and redshirt senior right side hitter Sofia Peterson. Xavier was picked to finish third in the standings. The Musketeers finished tied for second with Villanova in the league in 2015 with a 14-4 record. Bessler finished the year ranked fifth in the conference in points per set (4.19) and fourth in kills per set (3.72). She was also a 2016 AVCA All-Region First Team member as well as an All-BIG EAST First Team honoree. Massa was also on the 2015 All-BIG EAST First Team, while Peterson earned Second Team accolades. Massa averaged 2.67 kills per set in league play, while Peterson ranked ninth in hitting percentage (.285).
One point shy of the top three was
Villanova, the 2015 BIG EAST Championship runner up. The Wildcats saw their season come to an end in the NCAA Tournament first round, making their first appearance in the big dance since 1997. Villanova returns preseason all-conference selection sophomore Allie Loitz, a member of the All-BIG EAST First Team in 2015 as well as an AVCA All-East Coast Region selection. Loitz averaged 3.28 kills per set and 2.82 digs per set in league play last season. Also returning for the Wildcats are sophomore Amanda Pedersen-Henry, senior Claire Crutchfield and junior Allison Fitzgerald. Villanova did lose the talents of All-BIG EAST selections Emma Pettit and Gabby Pethokoukis to graduation.
Fifth, sixth and seventh-place Butler, St. John’s and Seton Hall each placed one on the 2016 BIG EAST preseason all-conference team. The three squads all tied for fifth at the end of last year’s league season with 8-10 records.
Butler’s Anna Logan was an All-BIG EAST Second Team honoree in 2015 as she boasted 3.17 kills per set, 47 total blocks and 190 digs. The Bulldogs graduated the talents of first teamer Mary Striedl but return middle blocker Kayla Bivins who sat out in 2015.
St. John’s graduated six letter winners from 2015 including first teamer Karin Palgutova, but returns the talents of preseason All-BIG EAST honoree Julia Cast, who was on the 2015 second team and had 182 kills, 46 blocks, 19 digs and six aces in league play as a middle blocker.
Seton Hall will be led once again by libero Tessa Fournier, who has won BIG EAST Libero of the Year for the past two seasons. Fournier was a First Team All-BIG EAST selection in 2015 and tallied a league-best 379 digs (5.57 per set) in league play. Second team all-conference honoree Amanda Hansen graduated but the Pirates brought in a five-person class of newcomers for 2016 that includes three freshman and two juniors.
Georgetown finished tied for eighth with DePaul in 2015 with a 4-14 record. The Hoyas were young in 2015, but their strong underclassmen Alyssa Sinnette, Kenzie Higareda and Paige McKnight all return for a sophomore season.
DePaul’s key returners range from sophomores to seniors as Colleen Smith, Brittany Maxwell, Caitlyn Coffey and Jasmine King will take the court again for the Blue Demons.
Providence went 1-17 in 2015, but will have seven veterans to lead a crew of five newbies for 2016.
The BIG EAST Preseason Volleyball Coaches’ Poll, Player of the Year and all-conference selections are based on ballots cast by the league’s 10 head coaches, who cannot vote for their own team or student-athletes.
2016 Preseason BIG EAST Volleyball Honors
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year – Jaali Winters, Creighton, So., OH
Preseason All-BIG EAST
(listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)
Anna Logan, Butler, So., OH
Jess Bird, Creighton, Sr., OH
Lauren Smith, Creighton, R-Sr., MB ^
Jaali Winters, Creighton, So., OH ^
Taylor Louis, Marquette, So., OH ^
Meghan Niemann, Marquette, R-Sr., MH ^
Julia Cast, St. John’s, Jr., MB
Tessa Fournier, Seton Hall, Sr., Libero ^
Allie Loitz, Villanova, Jr., OH ^
Abbey Bessler, Xavier, Sr., OH ^
Kristen Massa, Xavier, Jr., OH
Sofia Peterson, Xavier, R-Sr., RS
2016 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First-place votes in ( )
- Creighton – 81 pts. (9) ^
- Marquette – 70 pts. (1)
- Xavier – 63 pts.
- Villanova – 62 pts.
- Butler – 41 pts.
- St. John’s – 40 pts.
- Seton Hall – 31 pts.
- Georgetown – 26 pts.
- DePaul – 22 pts.
- Providence – 14 pts.
^ - denotes unanimous selection