Troy University Athletics
Trojans Picked Fifth in East by League Coaches
8/16/2007 5:00:00 AM | Volleyball
New Orleans, La. ? The Troy volleyball team has been picked to finish fifth in the East Division during the 2007 season as announced by the league office on Thursday.
Middle Tennessee and Denver were each picked to finish first in their respective divisions as voted on by the Sun Belt coaches in the preseason coaches' poll.
Rounding out the East Division after Middle Tennessee are Florida International, Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, Troy and South Alabama.
“After where we finished last season I am not surprised we are ranked fifth. We will just have to see if we can improve that ranking after our conference season begins,” head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said.
The league coaches also voted on the 2007 Volleyball Preseason team with Florida International's Yarimar Rosa and Middle Tennessee's Alicia Lemau'u respectively picked Preseason Player and Defensive Player of the Year.
Troy did not have any players on the preseason team but seven of the eight players named to the team play in the East Division.
Troy will begin the 2007 volleyball season when it travels to Auburn, Ala., to play in the Auburn Tournament Aug. 25-25.
“We are really looking for to playing at Auburn to begin the season and see how we have progressed since last year,” Kirkpatrick said.
2007 Preseason Sun Belt PollAs voted on by the league's head coaches (First place votes in parentheses)
Eastern Division Points1. Middle Tennessee (9) 74
2. Florida International (3) 64
3. Western Kentucky (1) 55
4. Florida Atlantic 39
5. Troy 22
6. South Alabama 19
1. Denver (6) 83
2. North Texas (5) 82
3. Arkansas State (1) 60
4. New Orleans (1) 55
5. UALR 40
6. Louisiana-Lafayette 25
7. Louisiana-Monroe 19
As voted on by the league's coaches.
Kim Muller (Denver, Sr., MB)
Keila Oliveira (Florida International, Sr., S)
Yarimar Rosa (Florida International, So., OH)
Ashley Adams (Middle Tennessee, Jr., OPP/S)
Ashley Asberry (Middle Tennessee, Jr., MB)
Quanshell Scott (Middle Tennessee, Sr., MB/OH)
Megan Argabright (Western Kentucky, Jr., MH)
Julia Noe (Western Kentucky, Jr., S)
Preseason Player of the Year: Yarimar Rosa, Florida International
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Alicia Lemau'u, Middle Tennessee
