Cowgirl Volleyball Picked to Finish Fifth in Mountain West Coaches’ Poll

The volleyball coaches of the Mountain West Conference have picked Wyoming to finish fifth in the eight-team conference. Junior outside hitter Jodi Purdy was also selected to the preseason all-Mountain West team.

Purdy is the lone outside hitter on the preseason team and returns as the top kill leader after finishing seventh in the league last year with 3.21 kills per set. This is Purdy's second time making the preseason all-Mountain West team. She was named the 2009 Mountain West Freshman of the Year and made the 2010 all-Mountain West team.

Five institutions were represented on the 2011 all-MW preseason squad with Colorado State's Megan Plourde honored as the Preseason Player of the Year.

Wyoming received 27 points in the poll to put them above Boise State (25 points), UNLV (20 points) and Air Force (8 points). Atop the poll is defending champion Colorado State who received five first place votes and 60 points overall. New Mexico got three first place votes and 56 total points to end up second while San Diego State is third on the list with 51 points and TCU sits in fourth with 41 points.

The Cowgirl volleyball team returns two starters and nine letterwinners from last year's squad which finished the season 22-10 overall and 7-9 in MWC play. Wyoming will begin competition on Friday, August 26 when they host the UniWyo Wyoming Invite.