San Diego, the defending West Coast Conference champions and owners of a conference-best streak of 10-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, was picked to win the 2020-21 Spring WCC Championship in the annual preseason poll of the conference’s 10 coaches.
The Toreros, 25-6 overall and 17-1 in the WCC in 2019, captured seven of the 10 first-place votes and earned 78 points. BYU came in second with 72 points and one first-place vote while Pepperdine was third with 69 points and two first-place votes. The Cougars were second in the WCC last season at 16-2 and made their eighth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance while the Waves were third at 14-4 in conference play.
Santa Clara – which competed in the 2019 National Invitational Volleyball Championship – came in fourth in the poll with 55 points while and Loyola Marymount round out the top five with 50 points. Saint Mary’s (41), Pacific (27), Gonzaga (27), San Francisco (18) and Portland (13) were sixth through 10th.
The All-WCC Preseason Volleyball Team features two returning honorable mention All-Americans and five returning All-WCC First-Team honorees. Sophomores Grace Frohling (San Diego) and Whitney Bower (BYU) earned All-America Honorable Mention and All-WCC First Team honors during their freshman campaigns. Frohling was also the 2019 WCC Freshman of the Year.
The other returning first-team All-WCC honorees including BYU’s Kennedy Eschenberg, Pepperdine’s Shannon Scully and San Diego’s Thana Fayad. San Diego led the way with four preseason selections, BYU and Pepperdine had three apiece, LMU placed two, and Gonzaga, Pacific, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara had one each.
Gonzaga hosts San Diego on Jan. 24 to open WCC play. The other eight teams open play on Jan. 26.
| 2020-21 WCC Preseason Volleyball Coaches Poll |
| Team (First Place Votes) |
Points |
| San Diego (7) |
78 |
| BYU (1) |
72 |
| Pepperdine (2) |
69 |
| Santa Clara |
55 |
| Loyola Marymount |
50 |
| Saint Mary's |
41 |
| Pacific |
27 |
| Gonzaga |
27 |
| San Francisco |
18 |
| Portland |
13 |
| 2020-21 All-WCC Preseason Volleyball Team |
| Name |
Institution |
Yr. |
Pos |
| Rachel Ahrens |
Pepperdine |
Jr. |
OPP |
| Elena Baka |
Saint Mary's |
So. |
OH |
| Taylen Ballard-Nixon |
BYU |
Sr. |
OH |
| Annie Benbow |
San Diego |
Jr. |
LIB |
| Rose Booth |
Loyola Marymount |
So. |
OH |
| Whitney Bower |
BYU |
So. |
S |
| Kennedy Eschenberg |
BYU |
Sr. |
MB |
| Thana Fayad |
San Diego |
Gr. |
OH |
| Grace Frohling |
San Diego |
So. |
OPP |
| Katie Lukes |
San Diego |
Jr. |
OH |
| Riley Patterson |
Pacific |
Jr. |
OH |
| Sarah Penner |
Gonzaga |
Sr. |
OH/RS |
| Julia Sangiacomo |
Santa Clara |
So. |
OH |
| Shannon Scully |
Pepperdine |
Sr. |
OH |
| Emme Walters |
Loyola Marymount |
So. |
MB |
| Isabel Zelaya |
Pepperdine |
So. |
S |