Volleyball Picked to Finish Fourth in Inaugural American Athletic Conference Season

Aug 21, 2013

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team was chosen to finish fourth among the 10 American Athletic Conference teams during the conference's inaugural season. Each head coach received a vote in the poll and could not vote for their own team.

The Bearcats earned a total of 53 points, 13 behind poll leader No. 19 Louisville which earned seven first-place votes. UCF was picked to finish second with 69 points and two first-place votes while Connecticut rounds out the top-three teams with 59 points and one first-place vote.

In addition to the preseason poll, coaches also picked the preseason All-American Athletic Conference team which included the Bearcats' lone senior Emmi MacIntyre (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown). MacIntyre, who finished the 2012 season with All-BIG EAST second team honors, currently ranks second in program history with a 4.24 digs/set mark and third with 1,607 career digs.

Cincinnati, led by second-year head coach Molly Alvey, will feature returning starters MacIntyre and junior Me'Ashah Nicholson (Shiloh, Ill./Belleville Althoff) and also will showcase plenty of young talent. Seven freshmen will suit up for the Bearcats, including redshirt freshman Alison Kimmel (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) and true freshmen Breanna Barksdale (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake), Mallory Blauser (Round Rock, Texas/Round Rock Christian Academy), Kristin Conor (Lone Tree, Colo./ Highlands Ranch), Shelby Green (Dripping Springs, Texas/Dripping Springs), Ciara Hill (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) and Samantha Schrenker (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community).

UC will open its season on Friday, Aug. 30 when they host Butler at 12:30 p.m. and Tennessee at 7 p.m. The matches will be a part of the UC Invitational tournament for which the Bearcats will also play Morehead State at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31.

2013 American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll

School (First Place Votes)	Points
1. Louisville (7)	79
2. UCF (2)	69
3. Connecticut (1)	59
4. Cincinnati	53
5. USF	49
6. SMU	41
7. Temple	36
8. Houston	26
9. Rutgers	21
10. Memphis	17

2013 American Athletic Conference Volleyball Preseason Awards

Preseason Co-Players of the Year Brooke Mattingly, Louisville, Sr., MB Emily Juhl, Louisville, Sr., OH
Preseason Team Angelica Crump, UCF, Sr., OH *Erin Fairs, USF, So., OH Emily Howard, Houston, So., MB *Emily Juhl, Louisville, Sr., OH Hannah Kvittle, Louisville, Sr., S Maddie Lozano, SMU, Sr., MB Emmi MacIntyre, Cincinnati, Sr., DS Gabriella Matautia, Temple, Sr., RS *Brooke Mattingly, Louisville, Sr., MB *DeLaina Sarden, UCF, Jr., MB *Caitlin Welch, Louisville, Sr., DS *Caroline Young, SMU, Jr., OH

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