BIRMINGHAM, Alabama. — The University of West Florida was selected as the favorite in the 2024 Gulf South Conference preseason poll, while the Lee University Lady Flames were ranked No. 8. The poll and preseason team were voted on by GSC head coaches, who were unable to vote for their team or student-athletes.

The Argonauts earned 99 points overall and nine of a possible 10 first-place finishes, topping the preseason predictions for the 13th time since the 2010 season. The University of Alabama at Huntsville, last year’s tournament runner-up, was picked second with 90 points and a first-place finish. Valdosta State University was picked third with 69 points. Mississippi College was one point behind in fourth place, earning a first-place finish. The University of Montevallo rounded out the top five with 66 points.

Lee’s Christa Fabre, who is entering her second season as head coach of the Lady Flames, agrees with the coaches’ predictions. “West Florida is always a front-runner and UAH (Alabama in Huntsville) will have a strong program again. After that, there will be several teams battling for the top five, including Valdosta, ourselves, Mississippi College and Montevallo. Trevecca Nazarene University (an old rival) is also a strong addition to our conference.”

This year’s preseason team featured nine student-athletes from six schools, seven of whom earned All-GSC postseason honors last season, but no Lady Flame is on it. Meanwhile, the 2024 Newcomer Watchlist features 20 names from eight schools, including Lee’s Payton Danley, Izzy Denton and Berra Soyler.

The 2024 season will mark the 43rd season of GSC volleyball and Trevecca Nazarene’s debut in the Gulf South Conference. Teams will play a two-round conference schedule that includes 20 games over eight weeks.

Lady Flames ready to build on last season

After leading the Lady Flames to a GSC record of 17-14 and 8-8 in her first season as head coach of a volleyball program that hasn’t had a win since the 2018 season, Coach Fabre believes her club can continue to build on last year’s results.

“I think this group is very hungry to get further into the postseason and to take the program further than ever before,” said Coach Fabre. “We have strong talent back and the foundation from last season to continue to move in the right direction. We are versatile and have strength defensively in goal and in the back row.”

The Lady Flames lost All-GSC Abby Stroh (outside attacker), Allie Spurlock (right outside attacker) and key defensive specialist/libero Kamryn Halpin from last season. “Abby will be greatly missed on and off the court,” the coach emphasized. “She was a great leader and played a big part in our success last season. We will also miss Kam(ryn) and Allie as they also played strong roles.”
Coach Fabre and her assistant CeCe Blanchard plan to build their team around three returnees from last season: redshirt junior Naomi Hockless (middle blocker), junior left-hander Sophia Lippert (right wing) and sophomore Carmen Perez (outside hitter). “All three have been strong forces for us and we saw so much growth in their play and performance in the offseason. I’m excited to see what they can accomplish this season,” the coach noted.

Ten new additions will join the current roster of 19 players in the fall. “We are excited to see what each of them brings to our program,” the coach emphasized. “Payton Danley is an incoming freshman who I believe will play a major role on the right side, and another freshman, Mikayla Buhr, is a strong defender. We have sophomore Berra Soyler joining us from Nicholls State University at the setter position, while third-year sophomore Izzy Denton is another strong defender coming from Gulf Coast State College.”

When asked about the main priorities in pre-season, coach Fabre was quick to respond: “With so many new additions to our squad, the main thing we need to focus on is learning how to play alongside each other and trust each other on and off the pitch. We will try to improve our overall ball control and consistency. I would like to see improvement in each of those positions,” she explained.

Last season, the Lady Flames had a schedule that had them playing on the road for 10 of 11 games at a time. The bumpy 31-game schedule allowed Fabre’s first Lee club just eight home games. The 2024 schedule won’t be any easier, but fans can enjoy nine home games to start the season, including the Flame Invitational and the Lee Invitational, which features three teams from the always talented Sunshine State Conference.

Eckerd College (Florida) will compete for the Flame Invitational along with Georgia College, Arkansas Tech University and Lincoln Memorial University (LMU), while Nova Southeastern University, Embry-Riddle University (both talented teams from Florida), the University of North Greenville (South Carolina) and Quincy University (Illinois) will make up the strong Lee Invitational.

Coach Fabre said, “Two invitational tournaments were always planned. It’s an advantage to play at home and after our travel schedule last year, I wanted to do everything I could to stay home as much as possible. Our final tournament should be the strongest competition. I’m excited to see how this group approaches it. Our conference is challenging and having experience against quality (non-conference) opponents gives us the opportunity to see what we can do against some of the best! I think we’ll have several exciting games this year.”

Volleyball coach survey before the season
1. West Florida (9) – 99 points
2. Alabama Huntsville (1) – 90 points
3. Valdosta State – 69 points
4. Mississippi College (1) – 68 points
5. Montevallo – 66 points
6. Trevecca Nazarene – 57 points
7. Auburn Montgomery – 51 points
8. Lee – 43 points
9. Union – 30 points
10. West Alabama – 21 points
11. Christian Brothers – 11 points

Votes for first place in brackets ( )

GSC Volleyball Newcomer Watchlist
Ashleigh Murr – Alabama Huntsville, S, Gr., 5-7 – Dallas, Texas/Lipscomb
Emily Redman – Alabama Huntsville, OH, Fri., 5-10 – Chattanooga, Tenn./Signal Mountain HS
Haley Strawser – Alabama Huntsville, DS, Fri., 5-8 – Wesley Chapel, Fla./Wiregrass Ranch HS
Sofia Cerbuch – Auburn Montgomery, MB, Jr., 6-2 – Trieste, Italy/Iowa Western CC
Carly Cooper – Auburn Montgomery, DS/L, Jr., 5-8 – Fort Walton Beach, Florida/Pensacola State College
Payton Danley – Lee, MH/OPP, Fri., 6-0 – Buford, Ga./Buford HS
Izzy Denton – Lee, DS/L, Jr., 5-3 – Panama City, Fla./Gulf Coast State College (Florida)
Berra Soyler – Lee, S, Sun., 5-11 – Bursa, Türkiye/Nicholls State
Ava Antonaros – Mississippi College, OH, Fri., 5-10 – Madison, Miss./Jackson Academy
Samarin Kipple – Mississippi College, DS/L, Sun., 5-7 – Pilot Mountain, NC/Birmingham-Southern College
Reese Regner – Mississippi College, S/RS, Fri., 5-8 – Collierville, Tenn./St. George’s Independent School
Nikol Antova – Montevallo, OH, Fri., 6-0 – Vidin, Bulgaria/North Cobb HS
Blakely Robbins – Montevallo, S/OPP, Fri., 5-11 – Daphne, Ala./Bayside Academy
Ava Wind – Montevallo, DS/L, Fri., 5-6 – Leander, Texas/Glenn HS
Addison Cunnagin – Trevecca Nazarene, OH/RS, Fri., 6-1 – Somerset, Ky./Somerset Christian HS
Lily Vanbebber – Trevecca Nazarene, DS/L, Fri., 5-7 – Lake Winnebago, Mon./H. Michael the Archangel HS
Carleigh Charles – Union, OH, Fri., 6-0 – Nolensville, Tenn./Independence HS
Hannah Hamill – Union, OPP/MB, Sun., 5-11 – Sunshine Coast, Australia/St. Johns River State College (Florida)
Sarah-Kate Savage – Union, DS/L, Fr., 5-6 – Murfreesboro, Tenn./Rockvale HS
Avery Mullins – Valdosta State, S, R-Fr., 5-8 – Cary, NC/West Virginia State

For the second year in a row, GSC volleyball will be streamed exclusively on Flo Volleyball. Fans who sign up here can secure a special GSC rate, and those using a .edu email from a GSC member school can save even more on monthly or annual subscriptions.