The Seattle University volleyball team was picked by the head coaches of the nine programs within the Western Athletic Conference to finish fourth in the league standings, announced Tuesday morning by the conference office.
Martina Samadan (Split, Croatia), a sophomore middle blocker, was one of 12 players voted onto the preseason All-WAC team. Samadan transferred from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she finished fourth in the country in blocks per set last season and received Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Year honors.
"Martina will be one of the top players in the conference and will help lead our team to success," Seattle U head volleyball coach James Finley said.
New Mexico State, the defending WAC Tournament champions, was chosen as the preseason favorite, collecting seven first place votes on its way to 62 total points. Idaho received the other two first place votes available to finish second in the voting with 58 points, followed by Utah Valley with 44 points and Seattle U with 39 points.
Conference newcomers Bakersfield (38 points) and Kansas City (35 points) finished close behind the Redhawks in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Texas-Pan American ended up seventh in the preseason poll with 21 points, followed by Grand Canyon (17 points) in eighth place and Chicago State (10 points) in ninth place.
"We believe the preseason poll indicates that the conference coaches have respect for our recruiting class and our coaching staff,” said Finley. "It is going to be a fun year competing for the top spot in the WAC."
The Seattle U volleyball team will be holding an intrasquad scrimmage this Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Connolly Center starting at 3 p.m., with free admission for everyone. The Redhawks begin the regular season at the Wildcat Invitational hosted by Weber State Aug. 30-31 before opening the home schedule Labor Day, Sept. 2, against Eastern Washington at 6 p.m. at the Connolly Center.