TWU emerged as one of the top teams in the Lone Star Conference last season. One of the main reasons was the play of goalkeeper Nori Morgan.

The rest of the conference took notice when they named Morgan the LSC Goalkeeper of the Year following the season, which saw the Pioneers advance to the second round of the league’s postseason tournament.

Expectations are equally high for Morgan, a Plano native, as she returns for her senior season. She was named the preseason LSC Goalkeeper of the Year for 2010.

She started all 19 games for TWU last season and posted a 0.98 goals-against average. She led the conference in saves with 102, tallying a save percentage of .843, and had seven shutouts.

In other preseason awards released this week, West Texas A&M juniors Lindsay McHorse and Nadia James were named the LSC offensive and defensive players of the year, respectively.

TWU tabbed sixth in poll

The Pioneers are picked to finish sixth among the 12 LSC teams in the upcoming season, according to the conference’s preseason poll of head coaches, sports information directors and media representatives.

The Pioneers finished 6-3-1 in the conference in 2009, including a 6-1-1 mark in their final eight games of the season. TWU, which was 8-9-2 overall, advanced to the second round of the league tournament before falling 1-0 to Central Oklahoma.

West Texas A&M, which won the league title last season, was narrowly picked to repeat atop the standings over UCO. Mid-western State, LSC newcomer Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian also were picked ahead of the Pioneers.

Pioneers to head overseas

TWU will have a unique start to the 2010 season when the Pioneers head to Europe for training from Aug. 16-26.

The trip will include stops in the British cities of Arundel, Brighton, London and Worthing as well as Boulogne, France. TWU will play four games against club teams and semi-professional teams including the Brighton Ladies and Millwall Lionesses.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for these young ladies,” said TWU head coach Fleur Benatar. “We are so excited and have worked hard to make this trip become a reality. We expect this opportunity to be a great learning experience and a great kick-start to the season.”

The Pioneers will open the regular season at home against Central Missouri on Sept. 4.

Volleyball

TWU picked eighth in LSC

Coming off a seventh consecutive appearance in the LSC postseason tournament last year, TWU was picked eighth among 15 teams in the league’s preseason poll released this week.

Defending conference champion West Texas A&M was picked to repeat atop the league.

The Pioneers, who finished 16-17 overall last season, will open the 2010 campaign on Sept. 3 against Henderson State.

Honored for academics

The Pioneers won the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the third consecutive season this week. TWU’s players posted a 3.580 cumulative grade-point average during the past academic year.

TWU is one of 55 NCAA Division II teams and one of 224 teams across all three NCAA divisions to receive the honor. The Pioneers are also one of three LSC teams (including Abilene Christian and Texas A&M-Commerce) on the list.

The award was initiated by the AVCA in1993 to honor collegiate and high school volleyball teams that maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale.

TODD JORGENSON can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is tjorgenson@dentonrc.com .