SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — No. 13 San Diego was picked first in the 2023 WCC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll and three Toreros were named to the 2023 WCC Volleyball Preseason Team, the West Coast Conference announced on Wednesday afternoon.

USD took home the top spot in the poll with 75 points and a commanding seven first-place votes, finishing six points ahead of second-place Pepperdine (two first-place votes). It's the first time that San Diego has been picked to win the conference since 2016, when the Toreros opened the season ranked No. 26 nationally and finished the year 24-6 (15-3 WCC).

Middle blockers Leyla Blackwell and Haylee Stoner and outside hitter Amber Stivrins comprised USD's preseason team selections. Blackwell has now earned a WCC preseason honor in back-to-back seasons (2022 and 2023), while Stoner and Stivrins are earning preseason recognition for the first time in their San Diego careers.

Blackwell, a senior from San Diego, California (La Jolla High School), has established herself as the WCC's premier defensive player since she joined the Toreros as a transfer from Indiana in 2021, earning back-to-back All-WCC First Team selections (2021 and 2022), a 2022 VolleyballMag.com All-American Honorable Mention, a 2022 AVCA Pacific South All-Region Honorable Mention, and five WCC Defensive Player of the Week awards.

As a junior in 2022 she led the WCC with 176 total blocks and an average of 1.50 blocks per set, marks that ranked fifth and sixth nationally. Blackwell also added 232 kills (1.98 K/S) while hitting a team-high .354, 20 digs, and five assists. She started all five of the Toreros' NCAA Tournament matches, totaling 51 kills while hitting .385 (2.55 K/S) alongside 31 block assists and four solo blocks (1.75 B/S). The San Diego, California native played the hero in the biggest win in San Diego volleyball history that winter, tallying 14 kills while hitting a robust .583 in her team's win over Stanford in the 2022 Elite Eight, including game-winning back-to-back strikes in the fifth set to end the match and push the Toreros to their first-ever Final Four.

Stivrins, a graduate transfer from Georgia who hails from Scottsdale, Arizona, enters her final college season with a proven track record of being an explosive offensive player while matching up against premier competition. She spent her freshman year (2019) at Louisville before moving on to Georgia, where she played from 2020-2022. Stivrins led the SEC with 47 aces in 2021, which ranked 25th nationally, paced the Georgia roster with 212 kills in the 2020-2021 season, and earned 2019 ACC All-Freshman Team honors at Louisville as she helped the Cardinals to the NCAA Elite Eight.

Stoner, a junior from nearby San Marcos, California (Mission Hills High School) made an immediate impact upon her arrival in Alcala Park in 2021 and has since emerged as one of the conference's most dynamic and versatile players. She earned an All-WCC Honorable Mention and was a two-time WCC Defensive Player of the Week as a sophomore in 2022, appearing in 32 of the Toreros' 33 matches (31 starts) while totaling 159 kills (.299) alongside 98 block assists, 12 solo blocks, 37 digs, 11 service aces, and nine assists. Stoner ranked third on the San Diego roster in total blocks (110.0) and finished second in solo blocks (10). Her .299 hitting percentage was the third-best for USD in 2022. She played in all five of the Toreros' NCAA Tournament matches, totaling 23 kills and 14 total blocks, including six kills in both the tournament's second round against Washington State and the Sweet 16 against Kentucky, and five blocks in USD's 3-2 win at Stanford in the Elite Eight.

Blackwell, Stivrins, Stoner, and the rest of the Toreros are set to begin their 2023 season this Friday (August 25) with a matchup against No. 9 Oregon in Honolulu, Hawaii as part of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center. First serve against the Ducks is set for 7:45 p.m. PST.

San Diego will open its 2023 home schedule on Thursday, August 31 when it hosts Tennessee in the Jenny Craig Pavilion as part of the USD Invitational. First serve against the Volunteers is set for 7:00 p.m. PST, and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+. Both single-game and season tickets for the Toreros' upcoming season are on sale now.

2023 WCC VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Team (first-place votes) points
1. San Diego (7) 63
2. Pepperdine (2) 57
3. LMU 50
4. Pacific 35
5. Saint Mary's 35
6. Santa Clara 31
7. San Francisco 24
8. Gonzaga 17
9. Portland 12
 
2023 WCC VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON TEAM
Genevieve Bane - SMC
Isabella Bareford - LMU
Leyla Blackwell – USD
Meg Brown – PEP
Grace Chillingworth – PEP
Ramonni Cook - PAC
Alexa Edwards - PAC
Kari Geissberger – LMU
Kat Georgiadis - SCU
Emily Hellmuth – PEP
Biamba Kabengele – PAC
Jacquelyn Moore – LMU
Lia Okammor - SCU
Riley Patterson – PEP
Michelle Shaffer - LMU
Amber Stivrins – USD
Haylee Stoner - USD