Nebraska Selected as Top Pick in Big 12 Preseason Poll

Dallas - Nebraska is the preseason favorite to win its third straight Big 12 Conference volleyball championship and sophomore setter Greichaly Cepero, along with Texas A&M setter Jenna Moscovic are the preseason co-Players of the Year in a vote by league head coaches released by the conference office Tuesday. Husker freshman Anna Schrad, a 6-2 outside hitter, is the preseason pick for Freshman of the Year after attending Pius X High School in Lincoln, Neb.

Sophomore Amber Holmquist was also a preseason first-team All-Big 12 selection after leading the Big 12 with a .377 hitting percentage in league matches.

Nebraska, ranked No. 6 in the preseason USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll, received nine of the possible 11 first-place votes after winning the 1999 Big 12 championship with a 17-3 record. The polling was based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system with a first-place vote receiving 10 points. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. The Huskers have locked up three of the four conference titles since 1996. Texas won top honors in 1997.

Texas A&M, the 1999 league runner-up, placed second followed by 1997 Big 12 Champion Texas. Kansas State places fourth, while Baylor is fifth. Colorado, who has led the conference in team kills and assists for the last four seasons, is in sixth. Texas Tech is the seventh selection, Kansas is eighth, and Missouri was voted ninth. Oklahoma is 10th while Iowa State is 11th.

Cepero completed her first season in the league as the 1999 Big 12 Freshman of the Year while also taking first-team all-conference team honors. Moscovic, who was named 1998 Freshman of the Year, was also a selection to the 1999 all-conference team.

Selected as co-Newcomers of the Year are Colorado's Sara Frederickson and Texas' Katia Lara. Frederickson, a middle blocker, comes from the University of California-Santa Barbara, while Lara, an outside hitter, is from Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kan.

The 2000 season will begin Friday, Sept. 1, when all 11 teams participate in tournaments.

Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll

1.	Nebraska	98
2.	Texas A&M	86
3.	Texas	82
4.	Kansas State	77
5.	Baylor	65
6.	Colorado	56
7.	Texas Tech	46
8.	Kansas	34
9.	Missouri	25
10.	Oklahoma	21
11.	Iowa State	15

2000 Big 12 Conference Preseason Team

*Disney Bronnenberg, KSU	S	5-9	JR-2L	Bloomington, Ind. (Bloomington North)
Liz Wegner, KSU	OH	5-10	JR-2L	Grand Island, Neb. (Grand Island)
Greichaly Cepero, NU	S	6-2	SO-1L	Dorado, Puerto Rico (McDonogh)
Amber Holmquist, NU	MB	6-4	SO-1L	Houston, Texas (Alief Hastings)
*Cathy Cook, OU	MB	6-2	SR-1L	Irvine, Calif. (Irvine)
Kathy Tilson, UT	OH	6-0	JR-2L	Austin, Texas (Westlake)
Jenna Moscovic, TAMU	S	5-11	JR-2L	Stockton, Calif. (St. Mary's)
Players of the Year:
*Greichaly Cepero, Nebraska	S	6-2	SO-1L	Dorado, Puerto Rico (McDonogh)
*Jenna Moscovic, Texas A&M	S	5-11	JR-2L	Stockton, Calif. (St. Mary's)
Newcomers of the Year:
*Sara Frederickson	MB	6-2	SO-TR	Pagosa Springs, Colo. (Pagosa Springs/UCSB)
*Katia Lara	OH	6-1	JR-TR	Sao Paulo, Brazil (E.E.P.G. Javelino de
				Oliveria/Barton CC)
Freshman of the Year:
Anna Schrad, Nebraska	OH	6-2	FR-HS	Lincoln, Neb. (Pius X)

* - Ties occurred in voting