Brentwood, TN – After winning the first-ever Ohio Valley Conference Beach Volleyball Championship last season, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) beach volleyball team was picked to repeat as champions in the 2022 OVC Beach Volleyball Preseason Poll, the league announced Friday.
2021 OVC Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-OVC selection Marlayna Bullington came in tied for sixth in the OVC’s preseason top-10 player rankings, 2021 OVC Tournament MVP and First Team All-OVC selection Brooke Moore was also ranked eighth on the list.
Moore played exclusively with Jenna Panning last season and the duo went 14-3 while going 5-2 when playing in the No. 1 position and 9-0 when playing in the No. 2 position. The duo also went 3-0 in three decisions during the OVC Tournament en route to earning “Most Valuable Pair.”
In her sixth year leading the beach volleyball program, APSU head coach Taylor Mott‘s team features 10 returning letterwinners and four newcomers. Freshmen Jaida Clark and Elizabeth Wheat and transfer Mikayla Powell got their first action for the Governors during indoor volleyball season and they will be joined by Texas A&M Corpus Christi transfer Demi McInnis, who will make her Austin Peay debut during the beach season.
The Governors also return a pair of ten-match winners from a season ago in Caroline Waite and Erin Eisenhart. The Waite-Eisenhart duo went 10-5 last year, winning seven times in the No. 4 position and posting a 3-0 mark in the No. 5 spot.
Kelsey Mead and Tegan Seyring also are back on the sand for the APSU Govs after earning OVC Beach Volleyball All-Tournament team honors last season. Mead and Seyring scored the championship-clinching point when they beat the previously unbeaten UT Martin duo of Haeleigh Paulino and Logan Wallick in the No. 3 match.
Austin Peay State University, with 26 points and three first-place votes in the predicted order of finish, were tabbed to finish ahead of Morehead State, which received four first-place votes and 25 points, and UT Martin, which received three first-place votes and 23 points. Chattanooga (18 points) and Eastern Illinois (eight points) rounded out the poll.
APSU kicks off its sixth season of beach volleyball at the FAU Paradise Invitational, March 4-5, with matches against Palm Beach Atlantic, 7:00am, and Florida Atlantic, 1:00pm, on the first day of the event. The Govs then take on UNC Wilmington, 7:00am, and Florida Gulf Coast, 9:00am, on the second day to wrap up the season-opening event.
For news and updates on everything Governors beach volleyball, follow along on Twitter and Instagram (@GovsBVB) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com.
2022 OVC Beach Volley Predicted Order of Finish
1. Austin Peay (3 first-place votes) – 26
2. Morehead State (4 first-place votes) – 25
3. UT Martin (3 first-place votes) – 23
4. Chattanooga – 18
5. Eastern Illinois – 8
2022 OVC Beach Volleyball Preseason Top 10 Player Rankings
1. Baylee Young, Chattanooga
2. Logan Wallick, UT Martin
3. Gylian Finch, Chattanooga
T4. Allison Whitten, Morehead State
T4. Karen Scanlon, UT Martin
T6. Marlayna Bullington, Austin Peay
T6. Haeleigh Paulino, UT Martin
8. Brooke Moore, Austin Peay
9. Trinity Miller, Morehead State
10. Olivia Lohmeier, Morehead State
