ST. LOUIS — The Missouri State volleyball team has been picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference this season according to a vote of the league's coaches. Four teams received at least one first-place vote in the poll released Wednesday (Aug. 17), while junior outside hitter Lily Johnson also represents the Bears on the six-player all-conference team.
The Bears received 85 points and one first-place vote in the poll. Wichita State is the favorite with seven first-place votes and 97 points, followed by Southern Illinois (82) and UNI (72) each earning a first-place nod. All four teams to get a first-place vote played in the NCAA Tournament last season.
Illinois State sits in fifth with 57 points, while Loyola picked up 50 points to round out the six teams expected to make the league tournament held in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Nov. 24-26. Indiana State (41), Drake (33), Bradley (18) and Evansville (15) complete the poll.
The reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Johnson became MSU's first two-time All-American last season after posting 620 kills for the second-best mark at MSU and fourth-highest total in MVC history. She led the league with 4.59 kills and 5.09 points per set, hitting .236 on the season with averages of 2.95 digs, 0.36 blocks and 0.30 aces per set.
A native of Wildwood, Mo., Johnson became the first MSU sophomore to reach 1,000 career kills, and enters her junior season ranked 15th in Missouri State history with 1,115 career kills. Johnson had 20 or more kills in 17 matches, 23 kill-dig double-doubles, and completed a school-record streak of 36 consecutive matches with at least 10 kills. She ranked third nationally in kills and fourth in points in the final 2015 NCAA statistics.
In addition to Johnson, the Bears return six players who appeared in at least 117 of MSU's 135 sets played last season, including seniors Tatum Marshall and Simone House junior Lynsey Wright and Brianne Dixon, and sophomores Emily Butters and Ashley Ophoven. Butters, Johnson and Wright also spent time over the summer competing for the U.S. Collegiate National Team. MSU went 24-11 in 2015, finishing third in the league and playing in the NCAA Tournament
The 2016 season will be the 21st under head coach Melissa Stokes. Stokes has guided the Bears to a 438-213 mark since taking over in 1996, and the team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last 13 seasons while reaching the 20-win mark 16 times in the last 17 years.
The Bears make their 2016 debut this weekend at Hammons Student Center, playing the annual Maroon and White Scrimmage at 7 p.m. on Aug. 20. The event is free and open to the public. The regular season begins Aug. 26 against Xavier in Champaign, Ill.
