Following a 2008 season when the Missouri State volleyball team finished 23-13 and advanced to a fourth straight NCAA Tournament, the Bears have been picked to finish second in the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference race by the league’s coaches in the preseason poll released today. Junior Cara Hackmann and sophomore Calli Norman are among the eight preseason all-conference choices.
   
    Defending champion Wichita State is the favorite to repeat, garnering 99 of a possible 100 points and nine first-place votes, while the Bears grabbed the remaining first-place vote and 87 points. UNI earned 83 points for third and Creighton is fourth with 67 points.
   
    Southern Illinois (49) and Evansville (47) round out the six teams expected to make the league tournament held in Omaha, Neb., Nov. 26-28.

    Hackmann, a second-team all-league pick is 2008, was chosen to repeat her conference honor in 2009. As a sophomore, she averaged 2.58 kills, 2.95 digs and 0.82 blocks per set and was the State Farm MVC Tournament MVP.

    Norman is slotted to repeat on the first team after an outstanding freshman season in which she averaged 2.22 kills and 0.89 blocks per set with a team-high .264 hitting percentage.

    Missouri State, which has finished fourth or better in the league standings in each of the last 10 seasons, opens the 2009 season in Eugene, Ore., for a three-match tournament Aug. 28-29. The Bears will face Eastern Washington, San Francisco and Oregon while on the west coast.