Mizzou standout earns SEC preseason honors; Tigers picked to finish sixth in conference
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Mizzou volleyball season is still more than a month away, but the Southeastern Conference released some preseason news, on Wednesday.
Right side hitter Jordan Iliff was named to the 2024 Preseason All-SEC Team for the first time in her career. She was one of 18 players selected to the team, after she led the Tigers in kills over her junior season with 388. She tallied 3.40 kills per set swinging at a .236 clip.
In 2023, the St. Louis native was an AVCA Volleyball Southeast All-Region Honorable Mention and an All-SEC selection. Iliff started and played in all of Mizzou's 31 matches during her junior campaign, leading her squad in points with 468. She also paced her team in service aces, ranking fourth in the conference, as well as ranking second on MU's squad for blocks.
The preseason honor caps off a big summer for the senior, as Iliff was recently named to the 2024 USA Volleyball Women's Collegiate National Team. The Mizzou standout actually got to train with the Olympic Team out in California, as well.
Head coach Dawn Sullivan and company also learned where SEC coaches expect them to land in the standings in 2024.
The Tigers were selected to finish sixth in the league in the 2024 SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The selection comes after an SEC Coach of the Year caliber season for then-first year head coach Sullivan. In her debut season with MU, she led the Tigers to an 18-13 overall record and a 9-9 mark in conference action, which surpassed the program's SEC win totals from both 2021 and 2022.
The sixth place expectation is a jump from Sullivan's first season. In 2023, the Tigers were picked to finish 12th in the conference in the preseason poll, but ended up landing in seventh place.
You can find a full list of the preseason SEC expectation below:
- Texas
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Georgia
- Tennessee
- Mizzou
- Texas A&M
- Arkansas
- LSU
- Auburn
- Oklahoma
- Ole Miss
- South Carolina
- Mississippi State
- Alabama
Up next - Mizzou will host a pair of exhibition games on Aug. 30-Sept. 1, before the regular-season begins.
