University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Volleyball Picked to Finish Fourth
8/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 12, 2011
 Senior Ashley Mell  | |
Southern Miss has continued its climb upward as the Golden Eagles have gone from a low preseason prediction in 2008 to winning the league's regular season title in 2009 and finishing fourth in 2010. Second-year head coach Abbey Sutherland returns all six starters and nine of the top 10 players that produced a 19-12 overall record and went 12-8 in league play a year ago. Guiding the club in their final collegiate season will be All-C-USA first teamers and All-C-USA preseason picks Kelsea Seymour and Ashley Mell.
The senior duo earned AVCA All-Midwest Region first team honors and concluded the 2010 season with honorable mention AVCA All-America accolades. Seymour dished out 1,272 assists, for a 10.79 per set average, and had 286 digs. Mell ranked second in the conference and 13th nationally in points and kills per set with respective averages of 5.03 pps and 4.41 kps.
Southern Miss opens the 2011 season with its own tournament, Aug. 26-27. Included in the tournament are Chattanooga, Jackson State and Northwestern State. Match play gets underway at 12 p.m. on the Aug. 26 with Chattanooga and Northwestern State followed by Jackson State and Northwestern State at 3 p.m., and Southern Miss and Chattanooga at 7 p.m. Admission is free and all matches will be played in Reed Green Coliseum.
2011 CONFERENCE USA PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Tulsa (10)
2. SMU (1)
3. Houston (1)
4. Southern Miss
5. Tulane
6. Rice
7. UAB
8. UCF
9. Memphis
10. Marshall
11. UTEP
12. East Carolina
(#) First Place Votes in Parenthesis
2011 ALL-CONFERENCE USA PRESEASON TEAM
Student-Athlete, School - [Pos./Ht./Cl.] - Hometown
Lucy Charuk, Houston - [MB/6-2/RS Sr.] - Tswwassen, British Columbia
Chandace Tryon, Houston - [MB/6-0/Jr.] - Corpus Christi, Texas
Altrese Hawkins, Memphis - [OH/5-10/RS Jr.] - Schaumburg, Ill.
Nancy Cole, Rice - [MB/6-3/Jr.] - Pasadena, Texas
Courtney Manning , SMU - [MB/6-0/Jr.] - Mesquite, Texas
Dana Powell, SMU - [OH/5-10/Sr.] - Tulsa, Okla.
Ashley Mell, Southern Miss - [OH/6-3/RS Sr.] - Yorba Linda, Calif.
Kelsea Seymour, Southern Miss - [S/5-9/Sr.] - Long Beach, Calif.
Izabela Grot, Tulane - [RS/OH/6-2/RS Jr.] - Krakow, Poland
Jessica Adams Tulsa - [DS/L/5-7/Jr.] - Oklahoma City, Okla.
*Tyler Henderson, Tulsa - [OH/5-10/Jr.] - Oklahoma City, Okla.
Sam Serley , UAB - [MB/6-2/Jr.] - Nashville, Tenn.
* denotes C-USA Preseason Player of the Year.
NOTE: Due to a tie for the final spot, this year's preseason team is 12 members instead of 11.
