It’s a new year for the volleyball landscape, and with that comes new faces, new conference looks and new championships. Michella Chester gave us her take on the hot topics going into the 2023 DI volleyball season.
1. New-look Big 12
Conference realignment has come to the Big 12 to include four more squads. The additions of BYU, Houston, UCF and Cincinnati means that reigning NCAA champ, Texas, will see some sizable competition in the upcoming season. In 2022, UCF (28-2) and Houston (30-4) were both five seeds in the tournament, and Houston advanced all the way to the regional semifinals.
2. Big faces in new places
Many prominent names in the game turned to the transfer portal during this offseason. Penn State saw the most notable shift with the additions of Ohio State transfer Mac Podraza — 2022 Big Ten Setter of the Year — and Jess Mruzik from Michigan; the two have already made the Preseason All-Big Ten Team for 2023. Wisconsin brought on outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara from Northwestern, Texas tacked on Jenna Wenaas from Minnesota and Nebraska got Merritt Beason from Florida. Kylie Murr joined Minnesota for her final year of eligibility after playing four years at Ohio State, where she was the 2022 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and became OSU’s all-time leader in digs. The Gophers also hired Keegan Cook as the new head coach at Minnesota. Cook’s eight years with Washington included a national semifinal appearance and three other regional final spots. The question is — how will these new faces impact their respective teams… and how fast?
🤔 Biggest impact volleyball transfers for 2023
3. Texas after Logan Eggleston
Can the Longhorns win another title without the 2022 National Player of the Year? Logan Eggleson was the focal point of Texas’ offense, totaling 1,921 total kills in her five years and setting a program record for career aces at 208. The defending national champions will have a target on its back this season, and the question will remain: can Texas fill the gap that Eggleston left behind?
➡️ Texas leads 2023 preseason Power 10 rankings
4. Does Stanford make it back to the top?
The Cardinal have the greatest number of national titles in NCAA history at nine, with their most recent championship clinched in 2019. However, after losing a monumental senior class that season, the Cardinal took a few years to regroup. A measly 2-8 record defined their 2020-21 season, and the Cardinal improved to a 19-11…
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