OKLAHOMA CITY, OK: The Sooner Athletic Conference has announced today the 2017 Volleyball Preseason Poll. Texas Wesleyan University was picked third, while Oklahoma City University is the choice among SAC coaches to top the standings at the end of the season.

The Lady Rams finished the 2016 season at 28-5 and just missed the SAC tournament final after a 2-3 loss to Wayland Baptist in the semi-final. The teams returns All-American and Scholar-Athlete Shelby Stinnett, Chalon Anderson (582 digs in 2016), Kiersten Mebane (318 kills, 72 total blocks in 2016), and Sasha Robinson (984 assists, 345 digs in 2016).

The Stars received nine first place votes from the 12 head coaches who voted in the poll. No coach was allowed to vote for their own team. OCU, which finished (32-5) last year winning their second conference tournament title, polled 130 points. Wayland Baptist, a runner-up in 2016, was picked second with two first-place votes and 117 points.

The rest of the teams in the poll fell in this order: John Brown came in behind TXWES in fourth, and St. Gregory's was voted fifth. Southwestern Assemblies of God was sixth, followed by Southwestern Christian in seventh, Mid-America Christian in eighth and conference newcomer Oklahoma Panhandle State in ninth. The poll concludes with Central Christian in 10th place followed by Science and Arts in 11th and Bacone College in 12th.

The final regular-season standings will determine the seeds for the SAC post-season tournament scheduled to begin Tuesday, Nov. 7. The winner of the SAC Tournament and the regular-season winner will receive automatic berths into the NAIA National Tournament. 

The Rams will start the season by hosting the SAC/RRAC Conference Clash, starting Friday, August 18. The team takes on the University of St. Thomas at 1:00 p.m. before playing Jarvis Christian at 6:00 p.m.