USC Women's Volleyball's Mia Tuaniga Named to Big Ten Preseason All-Conference Team

ROSEMONT, Ill. – USC women's volleyball senior setter Mia Tuaniga (Long Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) was selected to the Big Ten volleyball preseason all-conference team, the league announced on Thursday, Aug. 1.

The conference also announced the results of a preseason poll of head coaches, which had the Women of Troy slotted at seventh among 18 teams in the newly constituted league.

Tuaniga—the Trojans' starting setter in each of the last three seasons—is one of three former Pac-12 athletes to be named to the preseason all-conference team. Oregon junior OH Mimi Colyer and UCLA graduate MB Anna Dodson were the other two. Nebraska led all teams with five players on the all-conference team. Wisconsin had three players and Purdue had two. A total of 18 players were selected to the preseason team with a total of 11 teams represented.

Defending Big Ten champion Nebraska was picked by the coaches to repeat for the league title. Wisconsin was picked to finish second behind the Cornhuskers while Penn State landed in third. The three perennial conference powers own 30 Big Ten championships with Penn State the leader at 17 titles followed by Wisconsin (9) and Nebraska (4). Illinois has also won four Big Ten crowns while Ohio State and Minnesota have each won the league championship three times.

Purdue and Minnesota rounded out the top five in the coaches poll and were followed by three conference newcomers in Oregon (6), USC (7), and UCLA (8). Ohio State (9) and Indiana (10) completed the top 10.

Under fifth-year head coach Brad Keller, the Women of Troy will play their first season as members of the Big Ten Conference in 2024. USC officially joins the conference on Friday, Aug. 2, and plays its first Big Ten match as host to Ohio State on Friday (Sept. 27) at Galen Center. The Trojans open the season with a pair of non-conference contests at Pepperdine (Aug. 30-31) in Malibu, Calif.

Last season, USC (19-13) received the eighth seed in the Pittsburgh quadrant of the NCAA tournament and swept UMBC in the first round before falling to site host No. 4 Pittsburgh in the second round. The Trojans finished fifth in the Pac-12 (12-8) and were ranked 24th in the final AVCA/Taraflex Division I Coaches Poll. Outside hitter Skylar Fields received her third-career AVCA All-America award and she and setter Mia Tuaniga were each named to the Pac-12 all-conference team. Outside hitter London Wijay earned Pac-12 All-Freshman honors.

For more information on the USC women's volleyball team, please visit USCTrojans.com/WVB. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on X, Facebook, and Instagram.

2024 BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON POLL

Nebraska
Wisconsin
Penn State
Purdue
Minnesota
Oregon
USC
UCLA
Ohio State
Indiana
Illinois
Michigan State
Washington
Maryland
Michigan
Northwestern
Rutgers
Iowa

2024 BIG TEN PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Raina Terry, Gr., OH, Illinois
Camryn Haworth, Sr., S, Indiana
Melani Shaffmaster, RS-Sr., S, Minnesota
Merritt Beason, Sr., OPP, Nebraska *
Taylor Landfair, Sr., OH, Nebraska
Harper Murray, So., OH, Nebraska
Bergen Reilly, So., S, Nebraska
Lexi Rodriguez, Sr., L, Nebraska *
Emily Londot, Fifth-Year, OH/OPP, Ohio State
Mimi Colyer, Jr., OH, Oregon
Jess Mruzik, Gr., OH, Penn State *
Chloe Chicoine, So., OH, Purdue
Eva Hudson, Jr., OH, Purdue
Anna Dodson, Gr., MB, UCLA
Mia Tuaniga, Sr., S, USC
Carter Booth, Jr., MB, Wisconsin
Sarah Franklin, Sr., OH, Wisconsin
Anna Smrek, Sr., MB/OPP, Wisconsin
* Unanimous selection denoted by asterisk

Players Mentioned

Skylar Fields

Mia Tuaniga

London Wijay