BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team was unanimously picked by the Southeastern Conference coaches to win the SEC West title for the fourth year in a row.
All 10 coaches voted for LSU to sit atop the division, while the Tigers also received three votes to win the overall league title.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by the SEC Coaches as the favorite in the West,” LSU head coach Fran Flory said, “especially in a year where I think our conference is going to be very strong from top to bottom and any given team will have the opportunity to win their division. It gets more and more difficult each year and we look forward to the challenge.”
Florida, who has won the SEC for 17 consecutive years, received all but one first-place vote in the East and had seven votes to be the coaches’ prediction for overall league champion an 18th straight year. Kentucky finished second in the East and also received one vote as the SEC Champion.
Following LSU in the West predictions in order were Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and Mississippi State.
The Tigers are coming off a season where they finished 25-8 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They went 15-5 in league play in 2007.
In addition to team predictions, LSU also had three student-athletes selected as part of the preseason All-SEC team last week, more than any other school in the league. Lauren DeGirolamo, Kyna Washington and Elena Martinez all earned that honor. All three were All-SEC performers in 2007 while Martinez also was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
LSU opens its season Friday in the Bluejay Invitational hosted by Creighton in Omaha, Neb. The Tigers’ first match is at 4 p.m. against Texas A&M.
SEC Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll
(First-Place Votes in Parentheses)
SEC Champion: Florida (7), LSU (3), Kentucky (1)
Eastern Division
Team Points
Florida (9) 11
Kentucky (1) 18
Tennessee 33
Georgia 38
South Carolina 40
Western Division
Team Points
LSU (10) 10
Ole Miss 21
Alabama 27
Arkansas 41
Auburn 44
Mississippi State 52