Texas sweeps up Big 12’s preseason volleyball awards
Ahead of the 2018 volleyball season, the Big 12 is once again predicting that some of its top standouts will play at Texas.
Junior outside hitter Micaya White has been named the Big 12’s preseason player of the year, the conference announced Wednesday. Middle blocker Morgan Johnson and outside hitter Yaazie Bedart-Ghani, the only seniors on UT’s roster, joined White on the Big 12’s preseason team.
The coaches in the conference also expect Logan Eggleston to be the Big 12’s top freshman.
Texas ex Chiaka Ogbogu won the Big 12’s player of the year award in 2017. The last Longhorn to be named the Big 12 freshman of the year? White in 2016.
The 6-1 White has led Texas in kills during each of the past two seasons. The Frisco native has averaged 3.8 kills and 2.4 digs per set in her career. White is a two-time AVCA All-American, and she joins Baylor’s Yossiana Pressley and Iowa State’s Jess Schaben as the only unanimous selections to the Big 12’s preseason honor roll.
Johnson is coming off a season in which her 1.14 blocks per set ranked seventh in the conference. Bedart-Ghani made only five starts in 2017, but the team captain has had shining moments in each of the past three NCAA Tournaments. Eggleston, who recently led the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team to a title at the NORCECA Continental Championship, is enrolling at Texas after skipping her senior year of high school.
Texas is set to open its season at the Nebraska-hosted VERT Challenge on Aug. 24.