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Big South Announces 2026 Volleyball Preseason Poll & Honors CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Defending champion High Point University has been voted the favorite in the annual Big South Conference preseason volleyball poll by the league’s head coaches, it was announced today by the conference office. In addition, the coaches voted High Point outside hitter Élodie Lalonde (Ottawa, Ontario) the Preseason Player of the Year, while USC Upstate’s Kamyla Vega David (Carolina, Puerto Rico) and HPU’s Remy Catojo (Winnipeg, Manitoba) shared Preseason Setter of the Year honors. Upstate’s Sophia Overholt (Tryon, N.C.) was voted Preseason Libero of the Year honors as part of the Preseason All-Conference team selections. High Point is the preseason favorite for the 11th consecutive season, as the Panthers received five first-place votes and 61 points. Under the direction of ninth-year head coach Ryan Meek, HPU was the co-regular-season champion in 2025 at 12-2 in Big South matches, and won its third consecutive conference title. High Point returns five starters and 10 players from last year’s NCAA Tournament squad. Winthrop was second in the voting with 58 points and collected the three remaining first-place votes. USC Upstate was third in the polling with 44 points, while Charleston Southern was fourth with 33 points. UNC Asheville landed in the fifth position with 30 points, just ahead of Radford (29 points for sixth). Gardner-Webb claimed the seventh spot with 19 points, and Presbyterian College was picked eighth with 14 points to round out the poll. Lalonde is the fifth High Point player in six seasons to be voted Preseason Player of the Year. A Big South First-Team All-Conference member in 2025, Lalonde averaged 3.68 kills per set and 4.09 points to finish second in the league in both categories. Overall, she totaled 339 kills and 376.0 points. She posted a career-high 26 kills at USC Upstate, which ranks Top 10 all-time in a single-match in program annals. During the season she had 18 matches with double-digit kills, including four 20+ efforts. Lalonde picked up 149 digs to average 1.62 per set, recorded six double-doubles and posted a season-high 14 digs against USC Upstate on Oct. 31. She added 13 service aces with a career-high five at Radford, registered 45 blocks, and was a two-time Big South Player of the Week honoree. Lalonde -- who helped Team Canada to the Silver Medal at the U21 Pan American Cup earlier this summer -- received five first-place votes and 44 points for the Preseason Player of the Year honor, ahead of teammate Maya Bukovcan (41 points, two first-place votes) and Winthrop’s Paige Bennett (27 points). Vega David and Catojo tied with 17 points in the Preseason Setter of the Year voting. Vega Davis (three first-place votes) is the reigning Big South Setter of the Year, as the 2025 First-Team All-Conference selection was a six-time Setter of the Week selection a season ago. The 2024 Big South Freshman of the Year, Vega David appeared in all 28 matches and 108 sets last year, and led the team and conference with 1,120 assists (10.37 per set). Vega David ranked second on the team with 274 digs (2.54 per set) and with 30 service aces, and added 58 kills and 46 total blocks. She passed out a career-high-tying 55 assists on two occasions: vs. UNC Asheville (Sept. 26) and vs. Presbyterian (Oct. 3). Vega David dug up a season-high 17 balls twice: vs. UNC Asheville (Sept. 26) and vs. High Point (Oct. 18). She recorded 15 double-doubles, recorded 30 or more assists in 23 matches, accumulated 40 or more assists in 14 contests, and 50 or more assists six times, while reaching double-figure digs in 15 matches. Catojo (four first-place votes) was a Second-Team All-Conference selection plus an All-Freshman Team honoree last season. She totaled 710 assists to average 7.89 assists per set, and in conference play, she averaged 9.21 assists per set. Catojo posted two season-high 52-assist matches during the campaign -- first against Yale and again at Winthrop. She had 16 appearances with 20+ assists, three of which were 50+ assists. She added 78 kills with a season-high seven at Presbyterian, and also picked up 161 digs with a season-high 16 at USC Upstate. Catojo posted nine matches with a double-double in assists and digs, and contributed 42 blocks along with 13 service aces. She was named Big South Setter of the Week twice last season. Overholt earned Honorable Mention All-Big South and All-Freshman Team accolades in 2025. She appeared in 26 matches with 100 sets played, and set the single-season program freshman record for digs with a team-high 465 (4.65 per set), as well as a freshman match-high 36 digs against Gardner-Webb on Nov. 7. She ranked fourth in the Big South in both digs and digs per set. Overholt ranked sixth on the team with 19 service aces, and added 67 assists. She landed a career-high three service aces on two occasions, recorded double-digit digs in 24 matches -- including 20 or more eight times and 30+ in three contests. Overholt ended the season with 21-straight matches with at least 10 digs. She was a two-time Big South Libero of the Week in addition to one Freshman of the Week honor. Overholt totaled 18 points and five first-place votes in the voting, ahead of High Point’s Kea Whillock (two first-place votes) and Winthrop’s Addison Torain (one first-place vote), who tied with 13 points. Lalonde, Vega David, Catojo and Overholt were joined on the preseason All-Conference team by Bukovcan, Bennett, USC Upstate’s Summer Kohler, and High Point’s Addison Freeland. The 2026 Big South volleyball season begins Friday, Aug. 28, while Conference play begins Friday, Sept. 25. The top six teams in the final Big South standings will qualify for the 2026 Big South Women’s Volleyball Championship, which is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, Nov. 20-22 and will be hosted by Winthrop University. 2026 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON VOLLEYBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM Élodie Lalonde, OH, High Point (Preseason Player of the Year) Maya Bukovcan, MB, High Point Paige Bennett, OH, Winthrop Summer Kohler, OH, USC Upstate Kamyla Vega David, S, USC Upstate (Preseason Co-Setter of the Year) Remy Catojo, S, High Point (Preseason Co-Setter of the Year) Addison Freeland, MB, High Point Sophia Overholt, DS/LIB, USC Upstate (Preseason Libero of the Year) 2026 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON VOLLEYBALL POLL | Rk - School (first-place votes) | Points | | 1 - High Point (5) | 61 | | 2 - Winthrop (3) | 58 | | 3 - USC Upstate | 44 | | 4 - Charleston Southern | 33 | | 5 - UNC Asheville | 30 | | 6 - Radford | 29 | | 7 - Gardner-Webb | 19 | | 8 - Presbyterian College | 14 | Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 8 points, followed by 7 points for second-place, and so on.