BATON ROUGE, La. – For the second consecutive year, Katie Lindelow and Mandi Orellana have been selected to the 2017 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Preseason All-Conference Team, the league office announced Thursday.
In all, 10 student-athletes were selected and voted on to the team by the league’s head coaches. LSU was one of just five schools represented on the team, tying Florida Atlantic and Tulane with two players apiece. Florida State led all schools with three players voted to the squad.
“From the beginning, Katie and Mandi both put themselves in a position to lead this team by example and to be super successful in the sand,” said head coach Russell Brock.
“They’ve carried a heavy load, so we’re not surprised that people recognize that. I’m proud of them for what they’ve accomplished so far and look forward to them showing why they deserve to be recognized.”
Last season, Lindelow, a native of Covington, Louisiana, played exclusively at the one spot with her partner, Ashley Allmer, totaling 16 victories on the year with a big win against No. 10 Georgia State at the Tiger Beach Challenge. Lindelow collected five conference wins throughout the season and was also selected to the CCSA All-Academic team after earning 3.90 GPA.
A native of Guatemala, Orellana partnered with Riley Young during the second half of the season on court four, finishing with a 10-3 record. Orellana picked up five wins against ranked teams and closed out the season securing points in 10 of her final 12 matches.
Last year’s CCSA Co-Freshman of the Year Lilly Kessler was also one of 10 players who were selected to the 2017 CCSA Beach Volleyball Watch List.
Kessler compiled a team-high 23 wins, anchoring the two spot alongside partner Helen Boyle. Kessler finished last season notching eight wins against ranked opponents with five coming against top-10 opponents.
The native from Augusta, Georgia capped off the year with seven-straight wins, taking 12 of her last 13 matches. The redshirt sophomore was also selected to the 2016 CCSA All-Freshmen team.
2017 CCSA Beach Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team
Vanessa Freire-Florida State
Victoria Paranagua-Florida State
Gabrielle Dischler-Florida Atlantic
Megan Rice-Florida Atlantic
Sierra Sanchez-Florida State
Delaney Rohan-Georgia State
Katie Lindelow-LSU
Mandi Orellana-LSU
Tea Juric-Tulane
Madeline Mertz-Tulane.
2017 CCSA Beach Volleyball Preseason Watch List
Avery Hoven-UAB
Krissey Mummey-College of Charleston
Nicole Navarro-Florida Atlantic
Federica Frasca-Florida International
Francesca Goncalves-Florida State
Chelsea Ross-Georgia State
Lilly Kessler-LSU
Katie Zimmerman-South Carolina
Lan Nguyen-Tulane
Nicole Lott-UNC Wilmington