University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Volleyball Predicted To Finish 12th in C-USA
8/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Southern Miss Volleyball Predicted
To Finish 12th in C-USA
CHICAGO ? The Conference USA office released the league?s preseason volleyball coaches poll, and the Lady Eagles were selected to finish 12th this season. Southern Miss finished last season with a 12-19 overall record and 4-12 in the conference, ranking fourth in the division.
?The good thing about where we were picked is we can only go up (in the standings),? remarked Santiago Restrepo, who begins his first season as the Lady Eagles? head coach. ?I understand why our expectations are low, and that is fine, because we can go out and prove that we are capable of finishing higher than that.?
Seven letterwinners, including four starters, return, and leading the crew of experienced netters is all-star candidate Kelli Tribble, who is on track to reach the 1,000-kill mark for her career. She begins the season ranked ninth all-time on the school?s list with 949 kills. The 6-0 middle blocker also ranks in the top 10 in hitting percentage, block assists and total blocks.
Louisville is projected to finish first in the conference, followed by defending champion Cincinnati, and sharing the preseason third ranking is Houston and South Florida. Michelle Collier of South Florida has been named the Preseason Player of the Year, and she is joined by Stephanie Bishop (DePaul), Colleen Hunter (Saint Louis), Stacey Mercer (Louisville), Bonita Wise (Cincinnati) and Jennifer Wittenburg (Houston) to make up the C-USA All-League Team.
The Lady Eagles begin the upcoming season by competing in the Troy State Tournament on Aug. 31 and July 1. Their first home match is against Nicholls State on Tuesday, Sept 5, at 7 p.m.
