JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Lipscomb has been selected atop the the 2025 Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll, the league announced on Thursday.
Lipscomb, the 2024 ASUN Championship Runner-Up, finished last season with a 19-11 record which included a 14-2 mark in conference play. The Bisons secured eight first-place votes and totaled 140 points. FGCU, which has captured the last four tournament titles, landed second in the poll with 122 points and three first-place nods. EKU came in third with 115 points followed by Central Arkansas with 110. Jacksonville and North Alabama rounded out the top half of the poll in a tie for fifth place with 87 points each.
Courtney Jones, a senior outside hitter for the Bisons, was named the Preseason Player of the Year after she earned her second All-ASUN appearance with a first team selection. The Terre Haute, Ind., native started in all 30 matches in her junior season and led the team in kills (372), kills per set (3.54) and was fifth in hitting percantage (.248). Central Arkansas' Alexis McDaniel was tabbed the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year after finishing 2024 sixth in the league in digs per set (4.34) and fifth in total digs (267). In 29 total matches played last year, McDaniel had double-digit digs in 23 of them, with 20-plus digs in 11 matches. The Bisons' Sophia Hudepohl enters the 2025 season as the Preseason Setter of the Year. The senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, averaged 9.86 assists per set in 111 sets played last season, and she led the ASUN in assists (690) and per set (10.95) in 63 sets.
2025 Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Lipscomb (8) 140
2. FGCU (3) 122
3. EKU 115
4. Central Arkansas 110
5. Jacksonville 87
5. North Alabama 87
7. North Florida (1) 87
8. Austin Peay 47
9. Bellarmine 42
10. Stetson 41
11. Queens 37
12. West Georgia 22
First-place votes in parentheses
2025 Volleyball Preseason All-ASUN Team
Courtney Jones, Lipscomb^
Laci Bohannan, Central Arkansas^
Sophia Hudepohl, Lipscomb^
Caylan Koons, Central Arkansas
Alexis McDaniel, Central Arkansas
Carson Ledford, EKU
Breanna McDonough, Jacksonville
^ - First-place votes in parentheses