Anderson, Hayes Named Preseason All-Sun Belt for Second Straight Year; Troy Tabbed Second in East Division.

TROY, Ala. – The league office announced Tuesday that Troy setter Amara Anderson and outside hitter Cheyenne Hayes have been named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team for the second consecutive year.

"Amara and Cheyenne have proven themselves to be two of the elite players in our conference," head coach Josh Lauer said. "They have earned the respect of the other teams and coaches in the Sun Belt. They have also worked hard this summer to be their very best and help our team have the best season possible this fall."

The Trojans have also been picked to finish second in the Sun Belt East Division in a vote of the league's 12 head coaches and tallied the third-most points overall in the conference voting, receiving a first-place vote.

"I'm also very honored that the other coaches in the Sun Belt recognized our team as one of the top 4 teams heading into the season," Lauer said. "We have worked extremely hard to build consistency into the Troy VB program, and we look forward to continuing that tradition this year representing Troy University in the conference championship this year."

Troy is set to kick off its season at Trojan Arena with an exhibition against Kennesaw State this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and will open regular season play at home against Ole Miss a week later.

Amara Anderson
Amara Anderson, An All-Sun Belt First team selection for the last two seasons, finished leading the Trojans in assists (792) and was third-best in the conference in assist per set  (.793). In addition, she led the Trojans in service aces (24) which was the sixth-best in the conference last year.

The Alpharetta, GA., native improved to fifth place on Troy's all-time assists list with 3,336 career helpers and became the sixth Trojan in program history to record 3,000 career assists.

Cheyenne Hayes
Cheyenne Hayes, A 2020 All-Sun Belt Second-team selection for the second time in her career, led the Trojans in kills (204), improving to sixth place on Troy's all-time kills list with 1,359 career kills.

The Newnan, Ga., native became the fourth Trojan to be named to the Sun Belt All-Tournament Team after she tallied 57 kills in 13 sets played at the tournament, good for a 4.38 kill/set average. In addition, Hayes is the third Trojan ever, and first since 1994-97, to receive all-conference recognition in three straight seasons.

Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
Kendahl Davenport, Arkansas State (RS So, RS/MB)
Ani Bozdeva, Coastal Carolina  (Sr, OH)
Brigitta Petrenko, Coastal Carolina (Jr, S)
Mya Wilson, Georgia Southern (Jr, RS/MB)
Laura Jansen, Little Rock (Sr, OH)
Brooke Townsend, UTA (Jr, OH)
Alli Wells, UTA (So, L)
Emily DeWalt, Texas State (Jr, S)
Janell Fitzgerald, Texas State (Jr, OH)
Tyeranee Scott, Texas State (Sr, MB)
Cheyenne Hayes, Troy (Sr, OH)
Amara Anderson, Troy (Jr, S)

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Janell Fitzgerald, (Texas State, Junior)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Alli Wells, (UTA, Sophomore)
Preseason Setter of the Year: Emily DeWalt, (Texas State, Junior)
Preseason Libero of the Year: Alli Wells, (UTA, Sophomore)

2020 Sun Belt Volleyball Coaches Predicted Order of Finish
(First-place votes in parentheses)

2021 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll
East Division
1. Coastal Carolina (11) – 71
2. Troy (1) – 59
3. Georgia Southern – 36
4. App State – 32
5. South Alabama – 28
6. Georgia State – 26

West Division
1. Texas State (11) – 69
2. UTA – 55
3. Arkansas State (1) – 48
4. Louisiana – 35
5. Little Rock – 27
6. ULM – 18

Fans can stay up to date on all things Troy volleyball by following the team on Twitter @TroyTrojansVB and Instagram @TroyVolleyball.

Troy University Athletics

Anderson, Hayes Named Preseason All-Sun Belt for Second Straight Year; Troy Tabbed Second in East Division.

Players Mentioned

Amara Anderson

Cheyenne Hayes

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