FRISCO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word volleyball team was picked to finish in the bottom third of the Southland Conference for the 2015 regular-season in polls conducted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors, the conference announced Wednesday.

The Cardinals were 6-10 in the Southland Conference and 10-24 overall a year ago.  The team was picked to finish in ninth place by the head coaches and in 10^th place by the sports information directors.  The open the season August 28 at the Pepperdine Tournament and play their first home match on October 1 against Stephen F. Austin.

UIW is under the direction of Jen Montoya, who is starting her 13^th season as the head coach.  The Cardinals only lost one player from the 2014 squad and will be an experienced team heading into their third year in the conference.  Senior Angelique Vidaurri (San Antonio/Southwest HS) has earned honorable mention all-conference others each of the last two years and will lead the team going into 2015.  She averaged 3.32 kills per set in 2014 and needs just 100 more kills to reach 1,000 for her career.

Stephen F. Austin was picked to finish first after concluding 2014 with a perfect 16-0 conference mark and 24-8 record for the year. SFA reached the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals before falling to eventual champion Northwestern State. SFA returns four preseason all-conference players including first-team selections Jacque Allen, Justice Walker and O.J. Olson and second-team pick Tori Bates. SFA received 11 first-place votes from both the coaches and SIDs to earn a total of 143 points in both polls.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has been picked second by the coaches' poll and third by the SIDs. Last season, the Islanders went 19-16 overall and 11-5 in conference play, completing their third consecutive season with 10 or more league wins. The Islanders return second-team all-conference selections Ivy Baresh and Kristyn Nicholson. A&M-Corpus Christi received two first-place votes from both the coaches and the SIDs to give them a total of 119 points in the coaches' poll and a total of 114 points in the SID poll.

Central Arkansas was selected to finish third in the coaches' poll and second in the SID poll after receiving 118 total points from the coaches and 130 from the SIDs. The Sugar Bears recorded an impressive 13-3 conference record in 2014. Central Arkansas, which will be under the new direction of head coach Jeni Jones, returns first-team all-conference senior Heather Schnars and junior Fulani Pettis.

In the coaches' poll, Houston Baptist (110 points) was picked fourth followed by Northwestern State (102) fifth and Sam Houston State (93) sixth. The SIDs chose the Bearkats (106) to fourth, the Huskies (100) fifth and the Lady Demons (96) sixth.

Southeastern Louisiana received 68 points from the coaches and 73 points from the SIDs for the seventh spot in both polls. Lamar followed in eighth with 61 points from coaches and 59 points from SIDs.

In the coaches' poll, McNeese State and UIW tied for ninth with 51 points. Nicholls was selected 11th with 49 followed by Abilene Christian 12th with 37 points and New Orleans 13^th with 12 points.

Nicholls was selected ninth in the SID poll with 54 points followed by UIW with 49 points to round out the top 10. McNeese was selected 11th with 43 points, Abilene Christian 12th with 35 points and New Orleans received 12 points to complete the SID poll.

ACU and UIW are in their third year of transition from Division II and will be ineligible for postseason play.

The 2015 Southland volleyball season begins Aug. 28 with conference play beginning Sept. 24. The conference tournament will be held Nov. 20-22 at the Farris Center on the campus of Central Arkansas in Conway, Ark. The quarterfinals and semifinals of the tournament will be streamed live on the Southland Conference Digital Network, available via southland.org/watch and the Southland Conference app. The championship match will be an exclusive presentation of ESPN3, which can be accessed through WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.
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