BURNSVILLE, Minn. - Southwest Minnesota State University's women's volleyball team was picked to finish second in the annual 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll that was released on Thursday.
Reigning NSIC Offensive Player of the Year,
Taylor Reiss, was named by coaches as the conference's Preseason Player of the Year for the 2017 season.
Concordia-St. Paul was selected as the preseason favorites to win the conference for the 14
th consecutive year earning 218 points and 10 first place votes. SMSU garnered 202 points and three first place votes just ahead of third place Minnesota Duluth who finished the voting with 201 points. Fourth place Augustana, who lost the SMSU in the second round of the NCAA tournament last December, grabbed 172 points and a single first place vote. Winona State fell just one point below the Vikings with 171 to earn the fifth spot in this year's preseason rankings.
Mustangs' junior outside hitter,
Taylor Reiss, was named Preseason Player of the Year coming off of a 2016 season in which she recorded 19 double-doubles performances and was named first team AVCA All-American. Reiss, a 5-10 native of Taunton, Minn., was also named the D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year following a season in which she ranked third in the nation in both kills (577) and kills per set (4.89).
The Mustangs' "Player to Watch" in the conference for the 2017 season, Reiss will hope to continue a stellar college career in which she's been named first team All-NSIC in both her true freshman and true sophomore seasons.
SMSU is coming off of a 2016 season that fell short with a NCAA Central Region Championship loss to eventual National Champions, Concordia-St. Paul. The Mustangs went 28-6 overall with an 18-2 NSIC record last year and finished with an 11-6 record against the nation's top 25.
SMSU will report for fall camp on Monday, Aug. 14, and will open the new season on Friday, Sept. 1, against North Alabama as a part of the Hampton Inn Invitational in Pensacola, Fla.
