SEMO volleyball picked seventh in OVC poll, Masterson selected to preseason team

The Southeast Missouri State volleyball team was predicted to finish seventh out of 12 teams in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, which was released Wednesday and is voted on by the conference's coaches and sports information directors.

The Redhawks finished second in the OVC West Division last year, but the conference will no longer use the divisions for ranking purposes.

Junior middle blocker Taylor Masterson was selected to the preseason All-OVC team. She led the league in blocking last season with 139 blocks, an average of 1.09 per set. She also had 219 kills.

Defending OVC regular-season and tournament champion Morehead State was picked as the preseason favorite with 228 points and 15 first-place votes.

Eastern Illinois collected 210 points and five first-place votes for second. Belmont was picked third with 185 points and two first-place votes.

Austin Peay received one first-place vote and 169 points for fourth. Eastern Kentucky was fifth with 165 points while SIU-Edwardsville was sixth with one first-place vote and 156 points.

Southeast received 147 points. Tennessee State (92), Murray State (88), Jacksonville State (58), UT-Martin (53) and Tennessee Tech (33) round out the poll.

Southeast opens its season on Aug. 29 at the Saint Louis tournament. The team's complete schedule can be found here.

2014 Preseason All-OVC Team

Marah Bradbury, Eastern Illinois

Naomi Well, Tennessee State

Alyssa Lelm, Murray State

Chelsea Lee, Eastern Illinois

Laura McDermott, Morehead State

Alex Martin, Belmont

Chelsea Colclasure, SIUE

Jada Stotts, Austin Peay

Taylor Masterson, Southeast Missouri

Mallory Mangun, SIUE

Alexis Plagens, Eastern Kentucky

Alex Fitzmorris, Morehead State

Arijana Anderson, Tennessee State

Colbey Cameron, Morehead State