WBU picked 6th in SAC Preseason Volleyball Poll

Wayland Baptist is picked to finish sixth in the 2023 Sooner Athletic Conference Volleyball Pre-Season Poll.
 
The Pioneers finished seventh in the SAC last season, compiling a conference record of 9-11 while going 9-17 on the season.
 
The league's head coaches voted upon the poll, selecting defending conference regular-season and tournament champion Southwestern Assemblies of God University as the top team once again. The Lions earned the top spot with 99 points and received all but one first-place vote from the coaches. In 2022, SAGU finished the season with an overall record of 33-2 and turned in a perfect 20-0 record in conference play before defeating Texas Wesleyan in the tournament championship match.
 
Texas Wesleyan earned the second spot in the poll with 92 points while garnering two first-place nods. The Rams wrapped up the 2022 season with a 26-6 overall record and finished conference play with an 18-2 mark.

John Brown grabbed the third spot in the preseason poll with 80 points after a 22-10 overall record last season and finished league play with a 14-6 record while advancing to the SAC semifinals before falling to Texas Wesleyan.

Oklahoma City grabbed 72 points to earn the fourth position in the poll while Mid-America Christian rounds out the poll's top five with 62 points, just ahead of Wayland with 53 points, two in front of Oklahoma-Panhandle State. Southwestern Christian, Science & Arts of Oklahoma, Central Christian and Langston round out the 11-team poll.

Sporting a roster mixed with veterans and new faces, Wayland is set to open the season Aug. 18 in Fort Wayne, Ind., at the Onset Volleyball Tournament hosted by University of St. Francis. After four matches there, the Pioneers travel to Hobbs, N.M., to take on University of the Southwest before a five-match, home-opening weekend that begins with a scrimmage against a Canadian national team on Aug. 31. The next day, WBU opens conference play against Oklahoma City then hosts John Brown a day after that along with a match against Vernon College. Wayland winds up the busy weekend on Sunday afternoon by hosting Red Deer Polytechnic of Canada.
 
SAC Pre-Season Poll
(First Place Votes in Parenthesis)

1. SAGU (9)                             99
2. Texas Wesleyan (2)          92
3. John Brown                         80
4. Oklahoma City                    72       
5. Mid-America Christian       62
6. Wayland Baptist              53
7. Panhandle State                 51
8. Southwestern Christian    31
9. Science and Arts                30
10. Central Christian                21
11. Langston                             12