The reigning Southeastern Conference Champion Mizzou volleyball team was picked to finish third in a loaded SEC this season, as announced by the league office on Tuesday (Aug. 12). Mizzou garnered one first place vote and finished with 114 total points in the annual poll, which is voted on by the league’s 13 coaches. This is the highest that Mizzou volleyball has been selected in a Preseason SEC poll and it is the highest for the program since 2005 when the team was picked to finish second in the Big 12.

“After the top-15 AVCA ranking yesterday, this gives our fans a lot to be excited about and it should be great motivation for our team,” head coach Wayne Kreklow said. “After losing two first team All-Americans, being picked third by the other coaches shows the amount of respect that people around the league and country have for the talent we have coming back. That being said, we need to go out and prove that we belong in that spot. Preseason rankings are great, but all that matters is where we end up at the end of the year.”

Mizzou is coming off of a 35-1 season after completing an unbeaten regular season with a perfect 34-0 mark, including an 18-0 tally in SEC play. The Tigers reset school records for wins, sweeps, conference wins, conference sweeps, consecutive wins and were the first ever SEC team to run the table in the regular season. The Tigers also led the nation in five statistical categories (hitting, kills, assists, wins and winning percentage) while resetting the program record with its .356 team hitting percentage.

Florida was picked to win the league, garnering all 12 of the possible first-place votes. Kentucky was picked second while LSU (fourth) and Alabama (fifth) rounded out the top five.

Mizzou will open the season on Aug. 20 with the annual Black & Gold Scrimmage at the Hearnes Center, beginning at 6:30 p.m. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.

Preseason Coaches’ Poll
(First-Place Votes in Parentheses)

Place – School – Points
1. Florida (12)- 144
2. Kentucky – 129
3. Missouri (1) – 114
4. LSU – 105
5. Alabama – 102
6. Texas A&M – 89
7. Arkansas – 87
8. Georgia – 65
9. Auburn – 54
10. Ole Miss – 50
11. Tennessee – 33
12. South Carolina – 29
13. Mississippi State -13

— MU Sports Information —