Volleyball tabbed third in SSC preseason poll

MELBOURNE, Fla.

– The Sunshine State Conference released its 2023 preseason volleyball poll Wednesday and Lynn University was tabbed to finish third following a vote by the league’s head coaches. Tampa was picked first and received sev- en first-place votes, while Barry was selected to finish second after receiving four first-place votes.

The Fighting Knights finished the 2022 season third in the SSC standings with a 15-4 league record. Lynn received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the program’s third-consecutive berth and seventh trip in the last 15 years.

The Fighting Knights return a pair of AVCA All-Americans from last season in senior setter Emily Edwards (first team) and graduate student outside hitter Paige Barash (honorable mention). Edwards handed out 1,140 assists, while Barash paced the team with 367 kills. Junior middle blocker Aline Olegario also returns after being named to the All-SSC Freshman Team behind 99 kills and 59 total blocks.

Tampa was picked to win the conference for the fourth-consecutive season and 29th time overall following a 17-3 league record in 2022. Nova Southeastern was voted to finish in fourth, while Eckerd was picked fifth.

Lynn opens its 2023 season at the Ray Thrasher Classic at Trevecca Nazarene on Sept. 1-2 and opens its home schedule on Sept. 8 with Edward Waters at 12:00 pm.