UH-Hilo interim volleyball coach Chris Leonard wasn’t making too big a deal out of Wednesday’s preseason Pacific West Conference volleyball poll.
The Vulcans were selected to finish fifth, and, yes, Leonard did show the ranking to his team.
No, his players weren’t content.
“We finished tied for third last season, and I think we’re better than last season,” said Leonard, an assistant on the 2018 squad that finished 21-5.
“The goal is to win a (PacWest) championship, but, frankly, at the end of the day we have to go out and prove where we should be.
“The players are well aware of that.”
Junior Bria Beale was the only Vul named to the seven-member preseason All-PacWest team Conference, which was highlighted by Azusa Pacific middle blocker Julianne Miller, the coaches’ preseason player of the year.
Beale, an outside hitter who was a first-team All-PacWest pick last fall, led the Vulcans in kills and was second in digs and service aces in her first season at UHH. Junior middle Ashton Jesse didn’t make the preseason list, but Leonard said Jesse’s a decent bet to make the season-end selections.
“We have a lot of nice players and a handful that are worthy of mention,” said Leonard, who is gearing the Vuls up for their opener Sept. 6 against Chico State in Honolulu.
The Cougars were the pick to defend their conference title, gaining 10 of the 12 first-place votes. Chaminade (one first-place vote) is second, and Biola (one) was picked third. Point Loma landed in fourth, one spot ahead of the Vulcans.
UHH and Point Loma tied for third at 17-5 last season, with the Vuls beating the Sea Lions twice.
Concordia followed in sixth, Hawaii Pacific was seventh, Dominican eighth, Notre Dame de Namur nine, Fresno Pacific ten, Academy of Art eleven and Holy Names twelve.
The five other players named to the preseason team were Perla Escobar (Hawaii Pacific), Alana Handy (Chaminade), Cara Keurakis (Point Loma), Emma Tecklenburg (Chaminade) and Sara Wagenveld (Azusa Pacific).