D3VBWest Preseason All-Region Team

I really debated doing this. As far as I know there are no preseason All-Region teams anywhere, so why don’t I put one together? Am I going to be right? No. Am I going to be close? Jury is out. Will this make more people mad than happy? Probably. Am I still going to do this? Read on!

Here are the ground rules:

• I followed the AVCA end-of-the-year format and I went with 14 first team members and 6 honorable mentions.

• I listed awards for player of the year, freshman of the year and coach of the year. Again, this follows the AVCA format.

• It seems that the AVCA focuses more on the top teams than not. I did the same.

• I tried to lean on the Juniors and Seniors as much as I could.

• There are going to be players that get their shot this year that in no way I could have anticipated. They will reek havoc with these selections.

• No input from coaches were taken (although next year, please feel free to clue me in!).

To the players selected:  There is no trophy, plaque or certificate to commemorate this historic achievement but you are free to print this out and hang it on your wall.

To the players NOT selected:  You are free to change out the names and add your own and then print it out and hang it on your wall.

Now, without further ado, here is the inaugural D3VBWest Preseason All-West Region Team (sound the trumpets!):

Player of the Year: Lizzy Counts (Colorado College – Setter – Junior) Freshman of the Year: Melanie Williams (CMS – Right Side) Coach of the Year: Kurt Vlasich (CMS)

Preseason All-West Team 

Dylan Brinkman	UT-Dallas	Outside	Sophomore
Lizzy Counts	Colorado College	Setter	Junior
Aria Dudley	Colorado College	Right Side	Senior
Karlee Duncan	Pacific University	Outside	Junior
Lauren Friend	Chapman	Middle	Senior
Mackenzie Harris	Pacific Lutheran	Middle	Senior
Miranda Klein	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Right Side/Setter	Junior
Madeline McKay	Trinity	Right Side	Senior
Melanie Moore	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	Middle	Sophomore
Jordan Mullen	Colorado College	Outside	Junior
Sarah Paolini	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Middle	Junior
Ellie Parker	Pacific University	Setter	Senior
Caylie Shiramizu	Pacific Lutheran	Libero	Senior
Makenzie Thieme	Whittier College	Outside	Senior

Honorable Mention Preseason All-West Team

Brandi Campos	Southwestern	Libero	Senior
Justice McGowan	McMurry	Middle	Junior
Sara Mullens	Trinity	Libero	Senior
Lauren Schilling	UT-Dallas	Middle	Junior
Ashley Whittall	Whittier College	Outside	Sophomore
Melanie Williams	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	Right Side	Freshman

I really struggled with the liberos. You can throw a blanket over these choices and add La Verne’s Sanchez in the mix, too. Position wise I had the hardest times with the setters. Most schools seem to be playing a 6-2, which limits a setter’s statistics. I think someone will step up running a 5-1 and make this list but it would be just a wild guess for me at this point (as opposed to the somewhat wild guessing it took to put the list together in the first place). I really wanted Novak (UMHB) on the list, but I ran out of room. You’ll notice that I only have choices from teams that I anticipate will do well this year as that seems to be in play with the AVCA selections. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but there are a lot of great student-athletes that get left out if that is the case. It may just come down to ties are broken by the quality of opponents you play? The choices I found most interesting were Brinkman (needs to be healthy and really I have no idea), Duncan (how do you leave out the points per set leader in the West Region) and McGowan (can McMurry claim one of these spots).

With respect to Melanie Williams, there is a link to her video on the Recruits Page but here is a better one. There were a number of really good freshmen but I can only tell so much from videos (Bless you coaches and the difficulty you must have recruiting). Williams just stood out (no pun intended). I think Lizzy Counts gets rewarded as POY for leading Colorado College to what I think will be another great year. Coach Vlasich gets my nod for being the defending champion, losing a lot of players but coming back and (I believe) winning the SCIAC.

Fun exercise but all I really hope for is that all of these student-athletes stay healthy and allow me the enjoyment of watching the best region in Division III take names again this year!