August 1, 2002

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Virginia Tech volleyball team has been picked to finish seventh out of 14 teams in the annual BIG EAST Conference preseason volleyball poll, as voted on by the conference head coaches and released Thursday. The Hokies are coming off a 9-19 mark from a year ago, but have brought in a strong recruiting class and will look to made strides in their second year as a member of the conference.

Preseason Poll

2002 BIG EAST Volleyball Preseason Poll
(first place votes in parentheses)

Rank	Team	Points
1.	Notre Dame (10)	166
2.	Pittsburgh (3)	151
3.	Rutgers (1)	142
4.	Georgetown	135
5.	Connecticut	128
6.	Miami	100
7.	Virginia Tech	88
8.	Seton Hall	82
9.	St. John's	76
10.	Boston College	70
11.	Syracuse	51
12.	West Virginia	45
13.	Villanova	27
14.	Providence	13
( ) denotes first place votes

 

Notre Dame, coming off its third straight BIG EAST title, was picked as the favorite to win the 2002 regular season volleyball title. Coming off a 22-7 record and a 12-0 conference mark, the Irish received 10 first-place votes and 166 points.

Pittsburgh was picked second in the poll for the second consecutive year. The Panthers received three first-place votes. Rutgers received the only other first-place vote and finished third in the poll. Georgetown, the 2001 BIG EAST Championship runner-up, was picked to finish fourth. Miami was picked to finish sixth as it enter its first year of competition in the BIG EAST.

Pittsburgh's Wendy Hatlestad was picked as the Preseason Player of the Year. Hatlestad won All-Rookie Team honors in 2000, as well as All-BIG EAST First Team and all-region team honors last year.

Notre Dame is the lone team with two picks on the preseason team. Juniors Kim Fletcher and Kristen Kinder will lead the Irish as they pursue another NCAA Tournament berth. Both were All-BIG EAST Second Team picks last season. Kinder was also an all-region pick in 2001.

Shayla Bush from Rutgers joins Hatlestad as the only unanimous picks to the squad. The junior will lead a group of five returning starters for a Knights team that finished tied for second in 2001.

The other selections to the squad are senior Melissa Wooley of Connecticut and Georgetown sophomore Sara Albert. Both garnered All-BIG EAST honors in 2001.

Conference volleyball action gets underway on Sept. 27 with six teams squaring off. The top four teams based on regular season BIG EAST records will participate in the 2002 BIG EAST Championship at Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Nov. 23-24.

Virginia Tech begins play on Aug. 31 against Ohio University at the Wake Forest University Tournament.

PRESEASON AWARDS
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year
Wendy Hatlestad, Pittsburgh

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Sara Albert, So., MB, Georgetown *Shayla Bush, Jr., OH, Rutgers Kim Fletcher, Jr., MB/OPP, Notre Dame *Wendy Hatlestad, Jr., OH, Pittsburgh Kristen Kinder, Jr., S, Notre Dame Melissa Wooley, Sr., OH/RS, Connecticut * - unanimous selection