BATON ROUGE — After tying with Arkansas for the Southeastern Conference Western Division championship in 2005, the LSU volleyball team was picked to win the 2006 SEC West in a preseason poll by the league’s coaches, it was announced by the conference office on Tuesday.
The Tigers received 58 points and eight first-place votes from the panel made up of the 11 SEC coaches, while Alabama comes in second with 47 points and two first-place votes. The Lady’Backs are picked third with 45 points and one first-place vote, followed by Mississippi State with 36 points. Auburn and Ole Miss rounded out the West with 23 and 16 points respectively.
In the East, Florida, which had earned at least a share of the last 15 SEC championships, was picked to win the title with 50 points and 10 first-place votes. Tennessee, who advanced to the 2005 NCAA Final Four, came in second with 40 points and one first-place vote. Kentucky is picked third with 30 points, followed closely by South Carolina with 26 and Georgia completed the field with 15 points.
The Gators, who enter the season ranked No. 5 in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll, were also selected as the overall league champion ahead of the Tigers, who are receiving votes in the poll, and Lady Vols, who are ranked No. 11, by way of an 8-to-2-to-1 vote.
Voting in the West was done on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 basis while the East was calculated 5-4-3-2-1. No coach is allowed to vote for his/her own team and each coach also voted for one team as the overall conference champion. The East has only five teams as Vanderbilt does not have a squad.
LSU will open the season on Aug. 25 against Rice in the Maravich Center in the Tiger Invitational at 7 p.m. The Tigers will then take on Nicholls State on Aug. 26 at 11 a.m. before closing out the two-day tournament against No. 2 Penn State at 7 p.m.
Admission to the tournament is free with an “Advocate” ticket. Those tickets are available through the LSU Promotions Department by calling (225) 578-8960. In addition, fans are encouraged to wear white to the Penn State match, and “Walk on the Wild Side” t-shirts will be given away in an attempt to “Pack Pete’s Seats” and break the LSU volleyball attendance record.
Western Division
Team (First-Place Votes)
1. LSU (8)
58
2. Alabama (2)
47
3. Arkansas (1)
45
4. Mississippi State
36
5. Auburn
23
6. Ole Miss
16
Eastern Division
1. Florida (10)
50
2. Tennessee (1)
40
3. Kentucky
30
4. South Carolina
26
5. Georgia
14
Overall Champion: Florida (8), LSU (2) Tennessee (1).