Utah Utes volleyball: U. picked 2nd in MWC volleyball

COLORADO SPRINGS — The Utah volleyball team was selected to finish second and BYU was picked fifth in the Mountain West Conference in the 2010 Preseason Coaches Poll voted on by a panel including the nine conference head coaches and selected media.

In addition, Ute senior opposite hitter Karolina Bartkowiak and senior libero Keisha Fisher were named to the Preseason All-MWC Team.

The Utes tallied 104 points in the poll. Utah finished in a third-place tie with New Mexico last season with a 10-6 conference mark.

Colorado State was chosen to repeat as MWC champions in the poll, collecting 15 first-place votes and 134 total points. Utah followed in second while TCU (99 points) was three points ahead of New Mexico (96 points) for third and fourth place, respectively. BYU collected 85 points and one first-place vote for fifth place in the poll. San Diego State (62 points) came out ahead of Wyoming (43 points) for sixth and seventh place, respectively. UNLV took eighth place (36 points) and was followed by Air Force (16 points).

Bartkowiak, who has earned all-MWC honors the last two seasons, established herself as one of the top players in the conference last year. She was also a 2009 AVCA West Region Honorable Mention selection and is now 234 kills shy of becoming 12th member of Utah's 1,000-kill club.

Fisher ranked fifth in the MWC last season with 3.97 digs per set had 19 straight double-figure-dig matches from Sept. 1 to Nov. 14. She has 60 double-figure-dig matches for her career and is fourth in school history with 1,100 career digs (437 shy of school record).

The Utes open the 2010 season against UC Davis on Friday, Aug. 27, at Crimson Court (HPER E101).