NEW YORK – Marquette, who represented the BIG EAST in the NCAA Volleyball Regional Semifinals in 2018, was picked as the preseason favorite to win the regular-season title in 2019. The Golden Eagles were runners up in the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship for the past two years, and will host the 2019 tournament at the end of November. Marquette senior outside hitter Allie Barber was voted the Preseason Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Marquette received 80 points in the preseason poll with eight first-place votes. Creighton, the five-time regular season and tournament champions, was picked second in the poll with 73 points and the remaining two first-place votes. St. John’s was chosen third with 64 points, followed by Villanova with 55 points. All four teams made up the field of the 2018 BIG EAST Championship.
Butler was picked fifth (48 points), with Georgetown sixth with 40 points, DePaul seventh with 27 points sand Seton Hall with 26 points. Xavier and Providence rounded out the poll with 23 points and 14 points, respectively.
In addition to coaches’ poll and preseason player of the year, the coaches also selected a non-positional 12-member preseason all-conference team, which was announced on Thursday by the conference. The all-conference team consisted of four unanimous picks. Marquette, Creighton and St. John’s tied for the league-most with three each. Four of the 12 were outside hitters and four were liberos. Two student-athletes on the preseason team were setters as well as a middle blocker and a right side hitter. Eleven have received regular season accolades in the past, eight return from the 2018 all-conference teams, five from the first team, including the reigning BIG EAST Libero and Freshman of the Year.
Barber was the coaches pick for Preseason Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. The senior was the 2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year and 2016 Co-Freshman of the Year and a three-time All-BIG EAST First Team honoree. She led the conference in points and kills per set in 2017 and 2018. As junior in 2018, she recorded 4.96 points and 4.74 kills per set, helping the Golden Eagles to a 15-2 record in BIG EAST play. Overall, Barber averaged 4.67 kills and 4.90 points per set. Barber was the American Volleyball Coaches Association East Coast Region Player of the Year and was an AVCA Second Team All-American. She also earned CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team honors. In 2017, Barber earned AVCA All-America honorable mention.
Bolstering Marquette’s first-place pick were preseason all-BIG EAST selections junior libero Martha Konovodoff and junior outside hitter Hope Werch. Konovodoff was a 2018 BIG EAST Second Team honoree and AVCA All-American honorable mention in 2018. In league games she averaged 4.85 digs per set. Werch was the 2017 Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore, she led the Conference in aces with 27, 0.51 per set.
Creighton, the second-place selection also had three players on the preseason All-Conference squad. Senior Madelyn Cole was a unanimous pick as she returns as a First Team All-BIG EAST setter, leading the league last year in assists with 10.77 per set to help the Bluejays to an undefeated Conference record at 18-0. Creighton senior libero Brittany Witt and senior middle blocker Megan Ballenger also earned preseason accolades. Ballenger was a second team All-BIG EAST honoree last season and ranked sixth in hitting percentage (.331) and eighth in blocks per set (1.00). Witt was ninth in digs at 4.07 per set. In 2017, she was the BIG EAST Libero of the Year and First Team BIG EAST, while earning AVCA All-American Honorable Mention.
St. John’s returning All-BIG EAST preseason selections of Efronsini Alexakou, Erica DiMaulo and Amanda Sanabia helped the Red Storm return to the BIG EAST tournament field for the first time since 2012. Alexakou was the 2018 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year averaged 3.67 kills and 4.00 points per set, which were both tops for a freshman in the BIG EAST and fifth overall last season. Sanabia is the reigning BIG EAST Libero of the Year as she averaged 5.22 digs per set, second-highest in the league overall. St. John’s opponents hit just .185, which was tied for third-best in the conference. The Red Storm’s record of 12-6 last season was the best conference finish since 2008.
Villanova finished 10-8 last season and tied with Georgetown for fourth in the league. The Wildcats made the postseason tournament by way of the tiebreaker. Wildcat preseason All-BIG EAST selection Regan Lough was the league-leader in digs per set with 5.35 and earned conference Second Team accolades last season.
Butler’s Anna Logan returns to the court this season after missing last year with a back injury. Logan is a two-time All-BIG EAST First Team outside hitter previously. In 2017, Logan averaged 3.11 kills per set in conference matches. Butler finished with 6-12 record last season and finished seventh.
Also back on the court this season is DePaul’s redshirt senior right side hitter Brittany Maxwell. Maxwell received second team All-BIG EAST honors in 2017 as she ranked sixth in kills per set (3.61). The Blue Demons ended last season with a 3-15 record in BIG EAST matches.
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.
2019 Preseason BIG EAST Volleyball Honors
2019 Preseason BIG EAST Volleyball Player of the Year
Allie Barber, Marquette, Sr., OH
2019 Preseason All-BIG EAST
(listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)
Anna Logan, Butler, R-Sr., OH
Megan Ballenger, Creighton, Sr., MB
^ Madelyn Cole, Creighton, Sr., S
Brittany Witt, Creighton, Sr., L
Brittany Maxwell, DePaul, R-Sr., RS
^ Allie Barber, Marquette, Sr., OH
Martha Konovodoff, Marquette, Jr., L
Hope Werch, Marquette, Jr., OH
^ Efronsini Alexakou, St. John’s, So., OH
^ Erica DiMaulo, St. John’s, Sr., S
Amanda Sanabia, St. John’s, Jr., L
Regan Lough, Villanova, Sr., L
2019 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First place votes in ( )
| 1. Marquette (8) |
80 pts. |
| 2. Creighton (2) |
73 |
| 3. St. John's |
64 |
| 4. Villanova |
55 |
| 5. Butler |
48 |
| 6. Georgetown |
40 |
| 7. DePaul |
27 |
| 8. Seton Hall |
26 |
| 9. Xavier |
23 |
| 10. Providence |
14 |
^ denotes unanimous selection