Marquette University Athletics
Allie Barber is BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year
8/1/2019 9:57:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Marquette is selected preseason No. 1 in the league’s coaches poll
NEW YORK— For the second consecutive season Marquette University senior Allie Barber was selected as the 2019 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year in a tally by the league's coaches, while the Golden Eagles were picked to finish No. 1 in the league standings.
Barber was a unanimous pick to the Preseason All-BIG EAST team, while juniors Martha Konovodoff and Hope Werch were also selected. This is the second consecutive season that Werch has been tabbed with preseason honors.
Marquette received 80 points in the preseason poll with eight first-place votes. Creighton, the four-time regular season and tournament champion, was picked second in the poll with 73 points and the remaining two first-place votes. St. John's was chosen third with 64 points, followed by Villanova with 55 points. All four teams made up the field of the 2018 BIG EAST Championship.
Butler was picked fifth (48 points), with Georgetown sixth with 40 points, DePaul seventh with 27 points and Seton Hall with 26 points. Xavier and Providence rounded out the poll with 23 points and 14 points, respectively.
Barber was the 2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year, 2016 Co-Freshman of the Year and a three-time All-BIG EAST First Team honoree. She led the conference in points and kills per set in 2017 and 2018. As junior in 2018, she recorded 4.96 points and 4.74 kills per set, helping the Golden Eagles to a 15-2 record in BIG EAST play. Overall, Barber averaged 4.67 kills and 4.90 points per set.
She was the American Volleyball Coaches Association East Coast Region Player of the Year and was an AVCA Second Team All-American, while also earning CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team honors.
Konovodoff was a 2018 BIG EAST Second Team honoree and AVCA All-American honorable mention in 2018. In league games she averaged 4.85 digs per set. Werch was the 2017 Freshman of the Year and as a sophomore she led the league in aces with 27, (0.51 per set).
Marquette opens the 2019 slate on Friday, Aug. 30 against Utah Valley University and Boise State in Provo, Utah, before taking on host and 2018 NCAA Final Four squad, BYU on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 8 p.m. CT.
