Tulane Volleyball picked fourth as Dinkins and Douglas named Preseason All-American Athletic Conference

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Tulane volleyball team was predicted to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference in a vote by the league’s head coaches, while seniors Lexie Douglas and Kayla Dinkins were both named to the preseason all-conference team that the league announced today.

Douglas is a returning unanimous selection to the all-conference team, one of five unanimous selections across the league. She earned first-team All-American Athletic Conference honors in 2020. The redshirt-senior averaged 1.78 kills per set last season, amassing 248 total kills. Douglas ranked seventh in kills and eighth in points per set at 3.93.

Hailing from Pittsburgh, Dinkins had 168 kills last season. She added 83 total blocks and finished second only to Douglas in total points with 221.5 for the season. She ranked fourth in the AAC in blocks per set at 1.16.

Tulane was one of only four schools to have multiple players on the preseason all-conference team along with UCF, Houston and Temple, with ECU, USF and Wichita State each having one representative.

The Green Wave earned 64 points to sit fourth spot in the 11-team league after finishing with a 7-3 mark in conference play last season. UCF earned ten first-place votes and was picked to win the league. Followed by Houston, who earned one first place vote, and SMU in third.

To round out the top five, Cincinnati earned 61 points, the rest of the top 10 includes Temple in sixth, USF in seventh, Wichita State in eighth, Tulsa in ninth and East Carolina and Memphis are tied for the bottom spot in 10th.

Tulane opens its home slate on Friday, Aug. 27, at 12:30 p.m. as the team hosts Northwestern State in the first of four home matches inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

2021 American Athletic Conference
Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll

Team (1st Place Votes) Points
1. UCF (10) 100
2. Houston (1) 80
3. SMU 66
4. Tulane 64
5. Cincinnati 61
6. Temple 58
7. South Florida 34
8. Wichita State 33
9. Tulsa 24
10. East Carolina 18
tie. Memphis 18

Preseason Player of the Year
McKenna Melville, Sr., OH, UCF*

Preseason All-Conference Team
McKenna Melville, Sr., OH, UCF*
Anne-Marie Watson, R-Sr., RS, UCF*
Bri Wood, Sr., RS, East Carolina
Annie Cooke, So., S, Houston
Kortlyn Henderson, Sr., OH, Houston
Abbie Jackson, Jr., OH, Houston*
Marta Cvitkovic, So., OH, South Florida*
Falanika Danielson, So., S, Temple
Gem Grimshaw, Sr., OH, Temple
Kayla Dinkins, Sr., MH, Tulane
Lexie Douglas, R-Sr., OH, Tulane*
Sophia Rohling, So., RS, Wichita State

*denotes unanimous selection

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We look forward to seeing all of you in Fogelman in Devlin this fall!

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