It is time for my 2nd annual Big South Volleyball Preview where I tell you what the league coaches got right in their pre-season rankings and where they went wrong. As I did last year, I will take the coaches poll from top to bottom and give you a little more information about why these picks were made. So let’s get to it and talk about the first half of the now 10-team league.
Liberty is picked to win the league after a 25-9 year last season. The tournament runners-up simply ran out of gas in the Big South tournament a year ago and on paper are an easy pick for the top slot. Jade Craycraft, Loren Thomas, and Kelly Haseman were each picked as preseason All-Conference picks. Liberty coach Shane Pinder always does a great job of filling in the holes. Last season, I thought the Flames would be down a bit because they lost three All-Conference performers the previous season and all they did was go 14-2 in the league. Craycraft is just a sophomore but is every competitive and finds ways to get her team out of difficult spots. She was the reason they were able to beat Winthrop in the semifinal and if she has another strong season, she may be a front-runner for postseason Player of the Year. The Flames lose Karyl Bacon, which is a big loss. LU will need a young outside to step up. Lillie Happel is the player expected to do it but she is just a sophomore. Hazeman is the best returning libero in the league and Liberty will once again be very strong. You can pencil them in for another run to the Championship round but then we said that about Coastal Carolina last year, so use pencil.
Now the dilemma, the coaches went High Point, Coastal Carolina, and Winthrop for spots two through four. Honestly, this is a toss-up. These three teams might as well be the same team. They all have major losses from a year ago and will have to have young players step up and become leaders. Separating them is a matter of opinion and in my opinion; High Point is too high at No. 2 but then someone has to be number two. The truth is each of these three teams would be too high at No. 2. Since they can’t all tie for fourth, High Point is as good a choice as any, but I will be surprised if they finish in the top two and even more surprised if they reach the final match.
Last year you might remember the Panthers were picked fourth and I felt it was way too low. HPU went 13-3 and won the tournament title. But last year they had Megan Smith and Audie Gonzalez, this year they do not have a proven outside hitter, also sophomore setter Maddie Simpson will not be available. Michelle Chakirelis is a preseason All-Conference selection in the middle but where is the production around her? Let’s also not forget the top libero from last season, Julie Hershkowitz, also graduated. Jason Oliver is a very bright coach and by all accounts had a very good year recruiting but his only senior is defensive specialist Brianna Holliday and Cortney Jonk is a steady player but not a first option. Yes, the Panthers will be in the mix, they will be a top four team because I believe in Oliver as a coach and I am sure he has brought in some talented players, but I feel like they simply lost too much to repeat last season’s success.
Coastal Carolina is another team that graduated a lot of talent after last season. Gone are Chelsey Kimes, Megan Bickford, and Amanda Russell. Sophomore Meghan Laffin made the All-Conference preseason list, but the Chanticleers still have not settled on a setter using both Kelsie Mauck and Lauren Alejo last season. Coastal has been terribly inconsistent the past two seasons playing great at home but less than great on the road. I expect Alejo to become their setter, Laffin to have a good year, but the key to this team is Erika Lightsey. She must be more consistent for the Chants to challenge. Remember this was the team we were glowing about last year and they underachieved mightily to a 14-18 season. They have to figure out how to play on the road or they are going to be right around .500 again. Kristen Bauer always gets talented players to Coastal so I will probably always pick them in the top half of the league but they have to prove they can win on the road and be more consistent than they have been the last two years for me to put then higher than fourth.
Now, I have been told that one coach in the league picked Winthrop ninth, but the sanity of the other nine coaches placed the Eagles in the number four spot. I can see why some coaches would be down on the Eagles. Winthrop lost five senior starters from a year ago but the one they return is the pre-season Player of the Year, Becca Toor. Toor is the most athletic middle in the league and is primed for another great season. She will need to be great because on paper there is not much offensive help around her. Fortunately, the matches aren’t played on paper. Like Coastal’s Lighsey, Winthrop will need junior Carolyn Weed to have a good year. Weed is capable. She is athletic with a good arm swing and the coaches feel like they have found the reason for her inconsistency. There will be six new Eagles this year, that is half the team and oh yeah the head coach is new, at least to Winthrop. Julie Torbett is the winningest coach in the Big South, as she collected all of those wins at UNC Asheville. Coaches around the league know Coach Torbett very well and know she preaches defense first. The Eagles will be better defensively this year and may have to rely on scrappiness until some of the young players develop. Stephanie Palmer will step into the full-time setting role after sharing time there last season. She is a capable setter, is left-handed, and has a good arm swing. She will look to have a breakout season. Coach Torbett is also excited about freshman libero Catherine Brusie. Now it takes a lot for me to get excited about a libero but the last libero Coach Torbett got excited over who wore No. 10 is at the top of the Big South record book for career digs. So we will just have to see. Like High Point and Coastal, Winthrop is in the mix could finish second, third, or fourth. It won’t be ninth.
The Big South welcomes Campbell back into the league after a 17-year stint in the Atlantic Sun (which was the TAAC when the Camels originally joined). The Camels are obviously the biggest unknown in the league and a lot of coaches seemed to give the Camels the benefit of the doubt when voting them fifth. Campbell is coming off a 10-17 season. The Camels graduated three of their top four hitters but returns Jordan Reaves on the outside and Annie Kobeski in the middle. Setter Heather Wilson is in her second season with the team after transferring from Washington State. Campbell also has six freshmen on its 15-player roster. So like everyone else in the conference, the Camels will need some younger players to move into leadership roles. I haven’t seen the Camels play since 2003, so I will have to take a wait and see approach like everyone and give the orange and black the benefit and say fifth is fair. It would not surprise me to see the Camels in the mix and be a tough team in the tournament; it also would not surprise me to see them struggle on the road getting use to new trips and new opponents.
So there are the top five teams as voted by the Big South coaches. I can’t really argue too much with the voting. A few notes about the league. After graduating so much on the outside last year, four middles were voted to the preseason All-Conference team this year. The top two outside hitters play for teams picked in the bottom five. Liberty is the only team with multiple preseason selections (three). The league was clearly the strongest last season and will be a little bit down this year but the competition should be interesting because even though on paper Liberty is the team to beat, they aren’t that far ahead and there a bunch of teams that could make a move. Tomorrow, I will have a look at teams picked 6-10.
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