ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum College has been picked to finish fifth in the South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the conference office announced Tuesday.

The Pioneers placed two players on the preseason All-Conference teams, as senior Rachel Garnett and sophomore Melissa Mazur were each selected to the first team. They are among five starters who return from last season's team, which went 11-17 overall and 8-4 in the SAC for head coach Michael Robinson, who enters his ninth season at Tusculum.

Garnett was selected second-team All-SAC after she registered a team-high 2.86 kills per set (ninth-best in the SAC) and had a team-high .241 hitting percentage. Garnett, the 2013 SAC Freshman of the Year and 2014 honorable mention All-SAC selection, is a native of Cincinnati and enters her senior season with 839 kills and 139 blocks in 91 career matches.

Mazur became the fourth player in program history to earn All-America honors as she was selected by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association. Mazur was named first-team All-SAC and was a member of the SAC All-Freshman team after leading all three divisions of the NCAA with 6.84 digs per set. Her dig average was the third-best in a season in school history and ranks 10th in Division II history, while her 711 total digs were the fourth-most in a season by a Pioneer. The native of Chicago reached double figures in digs in all 28 matches as a rookie, including a season-high 44 against Lander.

Wingate, which has won the last 10 SAC championships and had its streak of nine consecutive SAC Tournament titles snapped last season, received nine of 12 first-place votes from the conference's coaches and tallied 119 points to secure the top spot in the poll. Lenoir-Rhyne, which upset Wingate to secure its first-ever SAC Tournament championship, received the other three first-place votes and had 111 points.

Lincoln Memorial was third in the poll with 94 points, followed by Carson-Newman (81), Tusculum (73), Catawba (69), Queens (65) and Anderson (56) in the top eight. Newberry was ninth with 46 points, with the survey rounded out by Mars Hill (33), Brevard (30) and Coker (15).

The Pioneers open their season on Friday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. on the road against King, and will play their home opener at Pioneer Arena on Tuesday, Sept. 13 against Mars Hill.

2016 SAC Volleyball Preseason Poll

Preseason All-SAC Volleyball Team
First Team
Anna Patton, Carson-Newman
Abby Saehler, Wingate
Brooke Redmond, Lenoir-Rhyne
Serena Jackson, Anderson
Rachel Garnett, Tusculum
Kiera Holland, Lincoln Memorial
Meredith Jones, Queens
Melissa Mazur, Tusculum
 
Second Team
Natalie Harris, Carson-Newman
Marissa Mitter, Anderson
Bri Howard, Catawba
Oakley Attaway, Wingate
Logan Hayward, Newberry
Emily Steele, Lenoir-Rhyne
Kori Adams, Wingate
Kimberly Hovey, Wingate