COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 16, 2017) – The Wyoming volleyball team was picked to finish fourth in the 2017 Mountain West Coaches’ Preseason Poll, released Wednesday. This marks the third-consecutive season that the Cowgirls have been picked to finish among the conference’s top-four squads prior to the start of the season.
Wyoming is coming off an 18-13 campaign that included an 11-7 mark in conference play and a fourth-place finish in the MW. An underclassmen-heavy squad, the Cowgirls return ten letterwinners from last season’s lineup. Among them are junior Reed Copeland and sophomore Madi Fields. Copeland, who was the 2015 Freshman of the Year, finished the 2016 season second in the MW and 25th in the NCAA in blocks per set (1.36 bps), while Fields ended her freshman campaign eighth in the MW in digs per set (3.16 dps). Fields was also the MW Defensive Player of the Week twice as Copeland earned the honor once a year ago.
Colorado State is the preseason favorite to win the title this season, having received eight first-place votes and a league-best 98 points. CSU received an at-large bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament for what was its 22nd consecutive appearance. The Rams also led the MW with four players named to the 2017 preseason team.
Boise State advanced to its programs first NCAA Tournament last fall after claiming the MW title with a 16-2 record during conference play. Boise State received three first-place votes and was picked second in the preseason poll with two Broncos selected to the 7-member Preseason All-MW team. Senior Sierra Nobley was chosen as the MW Preseason Player of the Year.
San Diego State was picked third with 79 total points, with UW close behind with 67. The Cowgirls are followed by Nevada (57) in fifth, Utah State (51) in sixth, UNLV (42) in seventh, San Jose State (38) took the eighth spot, followed by New Mexico (37), Fresno State (29) and Air Force (14) to round out the poll.
Due to graduation, the Cowgirls lost Courtney Chacon, Laura Beach and Kayla Slofkiss, who each closed out their careers having made their mark in the Cowgirl record books. Beach closed out her career as the all-time leader in hitting percentage (.372) and fifth in blocks (438), as Chacon is sixth with 3,352 career assists, and tenth with 943 digs. Slofkiss is eighth all-time with 951 digs and 11th with 1,037 kills. Chacon and Slofkiss were each named the MW Offensive Player of the Week once last season. The three Colorado natives earned 85 wins as a class, second-best in program history.
2017 Preseason All-MW Team
Sierra Nobley, Sr., OH, Boise State (Preseason Player of the Year)
Maddi Osburn, Sr., L, Boise State
Sanja Cizmic, Sr., OH, Colorado State
Kirstie Hillyer, R-So., MB, Colorado State
Katie Oleksak, So., S, Colorado State
Alexandra Poletto, Sr., MB, Colorado State
Deja Harris, Jr., MB, San Diego State
2017 MW Coaches’ Preseason Poll
1. Colorado State (8) – 98
2. Boise State (3) – 93
3. San Diego State – 79
4. Wyoming – 67
5. Nevada – 57
6. Utah State – 51
7. UNLV – 42
8. San José State – 38
9. New Mexico – 37
10. Fresno State – 2
