Two Lions Named Preseason All-SAC
ROCK HILL, S.C.— Mars Hill’s volleyball team was picked to finish eighth in the South Atlantic Conference by the league’s coaches in a preseason poll released Monday. Two Lions were named to the Preseason All-SAC team.
ROCK HILL, S.C.— Mars Hill's volleyball team was picked to finish eighth in the South Atlantic Conference by the league's coaches in a preseason poll released Monday. Two Lions were named to the Preseason All-SAC team.
The Lions tallied 52 points in the poll, which placed them between SAC-newcomer Queens (66) and Carson-Newman (45). Senior outside hitter Marissa Wixson and senior libero Maggie Murphy were each named to the Preseason All-SAC Second Team. MHU is coming off a season in which the Lions finished 14-15 overall and 7-11 in SAC play, good enough for seventh place in the league. Mars Hill opens the season Friday, Sep. 6 with two matches at Francis Marion. The Lions will face Mount Olive at 10:00 a.m. before taking on the host Patriots at 4:00 p.m. League play opens Sep. 10 at Lincoln Memorial.
Wixson led Mars Hill and ranked fourth in the conference with a 3.39 kills per set average last season. The senior is a two-time All-SAC performer. As a junior, she recorded a team-best 14 double-doubles and averaged 3.27 digs per set. Wixson needs 211 kills to become the fifth Lion in school-history to top 1,000 career kills. At her career average of 3.11 kills per set, she would reach that total in 68 sets.
Murphy is a two-time All-SAC performer, earning Second-Team honors in 2010 and 2011. The senior led the nation with a 6.91 digs per set average during the 2011 season. Last season, Murphy averaged 5.68 digs per set. Murphy's career 6.31 digs per set average is the highest in school-history by over a dig per set. She needs 536 digs to become the school's all-time leader.
The Lions also return middle hitters Toni Cole and Regan Macomson, each of whom started every match last season. Cole led MHU with 0.74 blocks per set and averaged 2.90 kills per set, while Macomson led the Lions with a .247 attack percentage. Senior team captain Hillary Gambrell returns after averaging 1.60 kills and 1.42 digs per set last season.
Junior setter Hannah Wilson is Mars Hill's leading-returner in assists after averaging 4.14 per set last season. She added 2.16 digs per set. Fellow junior Christen Nicholson averaged 2.76 digs per set. Sophomore Maddie Chervenak rounds out the Lions' returners.
MHU will welcome eight newcomers to the team this fall, including seven freshmen.
Wingate was picked as the preseason favorite by the SAC coaches. The Bulldogs have won at least a share of every SAC title since 2006 and are 90-4 in regular-season conference matches over that span. WU is led by three Preseason First-Team All-SAC selections.
Tusculum tied Wingate for the conference lead with five selections to the preseason team. The Pioneers were picked to finish second in the league and were the only team other than the Bulldogs to receive a first-place vote.
The complete preseason poll and Preseason All-SAC Teams are listed below.
SAC Preseason Coaches Poll
Place. Team- Votes (First-place votes)
1. Wingate- 121 (11)
2. Tusculum- 109 (1)
3. Lincoln Memorial- 98
4. Newberry- 80
5. Lenoir-Rhyne- 78
6. Catawba- 69
7. Queens- 66
8. Mars Hill- 52
9. Carson-Newman- 45
10. Anderson- 41
11. Brevard- 18
12. Coker- 15
Preseason All-SAC Volleyball Team
Position- Player, School
First Team
RS- Anna Hilton, WU
OH- Samantha Parrish, NEW
OH- Haley Rhyne, L-R
L- Caitlyn Dean, TC
MB- Lexi Potter, WU
MB- Kassie Voelker, TC
OH- Susie Murach, WU
S- Ashley Sarmiento, TC
Second Team
OH- Shelly Stumpff, WU
OH- Marissa Wixson, MHU
OH- Shannon Gillespie, AU
OH- Megan Hasse, TC
OH- Keri Kemp, QU
S- Alison Cooke, WU
L- Maggie Murphy, MHU
MB- Danae Stauffer, TC
