Big South Announces 2023 Preseason Volleyball Poll & Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – For the eighth consecutive season,
High Point University has been chosen the favorite in the conference’s annual preseason volleyball poll by the league’s head coaches, it was announced today by the conference office. Meanwhile, the coaches voted High Point outside hitter
Dylan Maberry (Magnolia, Texas) Preseason Player of the Year, Radford libero
Shelby Hernandez (Lochbouie, Colo.) the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, and Winthrop duo
Isabella Murray (Norcross, Ga.) and
Rachel McCollum (Lakeland, Tenn.) the Preseason Setters of the Year as part of the Preseason All-Conference team selections.
High Point, under the direction of sixth-year head coach
Ryan Meek, collected six first-place votes and 62 points in the voting to repeat as champions in 2023. HPU was the Big South co-regular-season champion with its 14-2 record in league matches last year for its third consecutive regular-season title and fifth in six seasons. The Panthers also won the Conference Tournament and finished 23-10 overall.
Winthrop was second in the polling with 55 points and received one first-place vote.
Charleston Southern earned 44 points and the remaining first-place vote to finish third in the preseason poll, while
Radford was fourth in the voting with 40 points.
Gardner-Webb landed in the fifth position with 35 points, ahead of
USC Upstate (20 points for sixth).
Presbyterian College claimed the seventh spot with 18 points, and
UNC Asheville was picked eighth with 14 points to round out the poll.
Maberry is just the second back-to-back Preseason Player of the Year honoree in Big South history. The 2021 Big South Player of the Year, Maberry is a two-time First-Team All-Conference selection and earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-American honors as well as All-Southeast Region accolades in 2021. Last season, she played 32 matches and 111 sets, and totaled 350 kills (second on the team and fifth in the Big South), averaged 3.15 kills per set and finished with 3.47 points per set. Maberry registered 10+ kills in 20 matches, and posted the eighth-best hitting percentage in the Big South (.268). In addition, she tallied 15 service aces, 38 blocks and 115 digs. In league matches, Maberry notched 171 kills, 3.29 kills per set, 185 points, 3.56 points per set, and a .284 hitting percentage in 2022.
Maberry collected six first-place votes and 48 points for the Preseason Player of the Year honor, ahead of Charleston Southern’s
Indigo Young (34 points) and Winthrop’s Murray (27 points).
Hernandez played in all 28 matches and appeared in 92 sets for the Highlanders last season. She led the squad with 420 digs and 4.57 digs per set, which ranked third in the Big South. The Nov. 14 Big South Libero of the Week, Hernandez posted a .960 receiving percentage, dished out 60 assists and landed 25 service aces. She earned VaSID Second-Team All-State honors as well as Big South All-Academic Team distinction. In the voting for Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Hernandez earned nine points and four first-place votes, just ahead of Charleston Southern’s
Angelika Rusin (six points and two first-place votes) and Winthrop’s
Brookelynn Thomas (six points, one first-place vote).
Murray was the 2022 Big South Freshman of the Year honoree. She finished first in the Big South and 42nd in the country in assists per set at 10.35 and ranked sixth on her team with a .200 hitting percentage. Murray was the only player in the league to average 10 or more assists per set, and her 53 assists in Winthrop’s win over Wyoming were the second-most by any player in the league last season. Murray recorded 260 digs for an average of 2.57 per set, and added 56 blocks and 27 service aces on the season. In Big South matches, she was the league-leader with 578 assists and 10.51 assists per set while helping the Eagles finish with the second-highest hitting clip at .233. She also tallied 150 digs and 33 blocks in conference action. McCollum did not play any matches during her 2022 freshman campaign.
Maberry, Hernandez and Murray/McCollum were joined on the preseason All-Conference team by CSU’s Young, WU’s Thomas, Winthrop’s
Avery Jolley and Charleston Southern’s
Skylar Yates.
The 2023 Big South volleyball season begins Friday, Aug. 25, while Conference play begins Friday, Sept. 22. The top four teams in the final Big South standings will qualify for the 2023 Big South Women’s Volleyball Championship, which is scheduled for Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 18-19 and will be hosted by High Point.
2023 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON VOLLEYBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Dylan Maberry, High Point, OH (Preseason Player of the Year)
Indigo Young, Charleston Southern, MB
Isabella Murray / Rachel McCollum, Winthrop, S (Preseason Setters of the Year)
Brookelynn Thomas, Winthrop, MB/OPP
Avery Jolley, Winthrop, OH
Skylar Yates, Charleston Southern, OH
Shelby Hernandez, Radford, LIB (Preseason Defensive Player of the Year)
2023 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON VOLLEYBALL POLL
| Rk - School (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 - High Point (6) |
62 |
| 2 - Winthrop (1) |
55 |
| 3 - Charleston Southern (1) |
44 |
| 4 - Radford |
40 |
| 5 - Gardner-Webb |
35 |
| 6 - USC Upstate |
20 |
| 7 - Presbyterian College |
18 |
| 8 - UNC Asheville |
14 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 8 points, followed by 7 points for second-place, and so on.