NORTH BOSTON, N.Y. – The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference released the results of its 2023 women's volleyball preseason coaches' poll on Tuesday morning, with Penn State Altoona being voted into fifth place out of 10 teams.

View the complete 2023 AMCC women's volleyball preseason poll

Penn State Behrend claimed first place in the poll, while defending AMCC champion Alfred State College was second. Mount Aloysius College and Pitt-Bradford tied for third place.

Penn State Altoona finished fifth in the AMCC regular season standings last fall, when the Lions posted an 11-13 overall record that included a 4-3 mark in the conference. The team achieved a berth to the AMCC Tournament, reaching the semifinal round. Head coach Jamie McGreal enters her first year at the reins of the program this fall.

In the poll, senior outside hitter Lacee Barnhart (Bellefonte, PA/Bald Eagle) and junior middle blocker Taylor Myers (Morrisdale, PA/West Branch) were both selected as "Players to Watch" for Penn State Altoona this season.

Barnhart was a second-team All-AMCC pick last year. In the conference, she finished fourth in digs (352) and digs per set (3.83), fifth in kills per set (2.95), seventh in kills (271) and points per set (3.3), and eighth in points (302.0). She was also a two-time AMCC Player of the Week.

Myers was fifth in the AMCC last season in solo blocks (17), sixth in service aces (37), ninth in total blocks (45), 10th in blocks per set (0.49) and aces per set (0.40), 11th in block assists (28), 12th in points (217.0), 15th in points per set (2.4), 17th in kills (149), and 19th in kills per set (1.62).

Penn State Altoona women's volleyball starts its 2023 schedule on the road, taking part in the Saint Vincent College Bearcat Challenge on Friday, September 1 and Saturday, September 2.