SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The WCC will look quite a bit different from how its looked in year's past. BYU's departure prior to the start of last season brought the league down to nine teams a year ago, but the addition of former Pac-12 schools Washington State and Oregon State as affiliate members have once again made the conference one of the more formidable groups in all of mid-major college athletics. That statement rings true for volleyball, as in the preseason coaches poll, Saint Mary's has been picked to finish seventh out of the 11 schools, with Genevieve Bane honored as a preseason All-WCC team member for the second consecutive year. 

Bane is the Gaels active leader in nearly every stat category. The 6-0 outside hitter out of Danville has tallied over 200 kills and 150 digs in each of her first two seasons of action as a Gael. The 2023 honorable mention All-WCC selectee has also added 65 service aces in that time, and should serve as the Gaels top option at outside hitter for the second time in as many years. 

A season ago, Saint Mary's finished fourth in a nine team iteration of the WCC, finishing behind Pepperdine, LMU and San Diego. The Gaels finished at 16-12 overall (10-6 in WCC play) and swept their season series over Pacific, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Portland and Gonzaga. SMC did see the departure of four all-conference honorees, which could explain why Pacific was picked to finish above Saint Mary's, despite the Gaels downing the Tigers twice a year ago. 

Here's a look at the full preseason rankings and preseason All-WCC honorees:

2024 WCC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll
Team (first-place votes) points
1. Pepperdine (8) 98
2. San Diego (2) 87
3. LMU (1) 80
4. Oregon State 70
  Pacific 70
6. Washington State 53
7. Saint Mary's 44
8. Santa Clara 36
9. San Francisco 33
10. Portland 23
11. Gonzaga 11
 
2024 WCC Volleyball Preseason Team
Genevieve Bane, Saint Mary's
Nemo Beach, San Diego
Grace Chillingworth, Pepperdine
Alexa Edwards, Pacific
Sam Hastings, LMU
Jenna Heller, Pacific
Birdie Hendrickson, Pepperdine
Annika Hester, Oregon State
Sophia Meyers, LMU
Elena Radeff, Santa Clara
Maui Robins, Portland
Lauren Rumel, Oregon State
Katy Ryan, Washington State
Mia Schafer, LMU
Riley Simpson, Pepperdine
Haylee Stoner, San Diego

Saint Mary's will have a home exhibition, open to the public, on 8/27 at 7 PM inside UCU Pavilion, as they host Cal State East Bay. Their countable play will get underway on 8/30 and 8/31 as they take on 19th ranked Arkansas and Cal Poly as part of the Mustang Invitational in San Luis Obispo. 

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