The Oregon volleyball team was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 and Duck sophomore Lindsey Vander Weide was named preseason All-Pac-12 in a voting by the conferences’ coaches announced on Wednesday.
Vander Weide wrapped up her freshman season in stellar fashion. The conference named her All-Pac-12 and to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. She averaged 3.21 kills per set, 2.28 digs a se. She also recorded a team-high 410 points.
Last year, the Ducks finished sixth in the Pac-12 with a 10-10 record in conference (16-14 overall). Head coach Jim Moore, in a press release on Wednesday, praised the conference’s depth.
“At the end of the day, we know that preseason rankings don’t mean much, if anything at all,” said Moore in a release. “We know that the Pac-12 is an extremely talented conference, and we’re going to go out there and compete as hard as we can.”
The Ducks were picked behind Stanford, UCLA and Washington. Last year, Washington and USC were crowned Pac-12 co-champions. The Trojans were picked fifth in the coaches poll.
The Ducks open their 2016 season with their first game on Aug. 26 vs. Nebraska in the Vert Challenge in Eugene at 4:00 p.m. The Ducks will host and play Texas and Florida in the opening tournament of the season.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne