Four Tabbed Preseason All-Conference, Cougars Voted Second

HOUSTON – After finishing second in the American Athletic Conference in 2021, the conference coaches picked the University of Houston volleyball program to repeat as runner-up in 2022.

The Cougars landed a conference-best four student-athletes on the Preseason All-Conference Team with the selection of Abbie Jackson, Rachel Tullos, Annie Cooke and Kate Georgiades. Seniors Jackson and Tullos were unanimous choices to the Preseason All-Conference team. 2022 Preseason Honors

All four earned The American All-Conference honors in 2021. Georgiades, Tullos and Jackson earned First Team honors, while Cooke placed on the Second Team. Georgiades was named The American Libero of the Year.

In 2021, Georgiades posted a 5.67 digs/set number in conference play, 1.01 digs/set more than the next best libero. The College Station, Texas native ranked ninth nationally on the season with a 5.39 digs/set average and second nationally with 663 total digs. Georgiades helped lead the Cougar defense to the second-best opponent hitting percentage in AAC play (.176).

As a sophomore, Cooke averaged 10.18 assists/set in conference play, ranking third overall. Cooke chipped in the conference's eighth-most aces per set with 0.34 in conference play and had the 13th-best attacking percentage in conference play at .307. Cooke led the Cougars to a .227 attacking percentage in AAC play, fourth-best in the conference.

Last year, Tullos ranked second in conference play with 1.22 blocks/set and third in conference play with a .384 attacking percentage. The Lantana, Texas native ranked 46th nationally in blocks/set with 1.23. Tullos helped lead the Cougar blocking efforts with the 21st-most total blocks in the country (277.5) and 98th in the country in blocks/set (2.26).

Houston's most potent attacking weapon in 2021, Jackson ranked second in the conference play in kills/set with 4.30, second in conference play with 5.01 points/set and sixth in conference play in aces/set with 0.41. The Gig Harbor, Wash. native led the nation in attacking attempts with 1,554, ranked 44th nationally with a 4.03 kills/set average, 34th nationally in points/set with 4.73 and sixth nationally with 582 total points.

The Cougars enter the 2022 season with high expectations coming off a 25-win season for the first time since 1994 and return six of seven starters from the 2021 team.

Houston opens the season on the road at LSU's Tiger Classic against cross-town rival Rice on Aug. 26.

Houston's biggest home conference match of the season is Oct. 7 against four-time defending conference champion UCF. 2022 Preseason Poll

Preseason Coaches Poll (1st place votes)	Points
UCF (10)	100
Houston	88
Cincinnati	77
Wichita State (1)	74
SMU	71
Tulsa	51
Tulane	39
Memphis	33
East Carolina	32
South Florida	22
Temple	18

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