Kendra Rowland	Kelsey Jewasko

FRISCO — Junior outside hitter Kendra Rowland and sophomore defensive specialist/outside hitter Kelsey Jewasko were named to the Southland Conference's 12-member preseason first team and the Roadrunners were picked to finish third in the West Division by both the league's coaches and sports information directors, the conference office announced on Tuesday.

Rowland, who was a first-team selection a year ago, is coming off a stellar sophomore campaign that saw her lead the Southland with 430 kills (3.74 kps) and 16 double-doubles. A starter in all 31 matches, she also had team-high 1,248 attacks and ranked second on the club with 313 digs in addition to racking up 34 total blocks and 20 service aces. The Antioch, Calif., native helped lead UTSA to the DePaul Invitational Championship and was named the Tournament MVP (49 kills, 28 digs, five aces). Her best match of the season came earlier that week in the home opener against Georgia when she posted a season-best 24 winners and 19 digs in the four-set victory. Rowland went on to earn SLC Offensive Player of the Week accolades on Sept. 15. She also was named to Mizuno Invitational at Rice University and Baylor Classic All-Tournament squads.

Meanwhile, Jewasko had one of the top freshman seasons in school history, one that culminated in her being named the circuit's Libero of the Year and earning first-team All-Southland honors. The San Antonio native played in all 31 contests, was one of just two players to see action in all 119 sets and led the league with 527 digs (No. 5 on UTSA’s single-season chart). Her 4.4 digs-per-set average ranked second in the SLC and she was in double figures in all but two matches, including the final 16 tilts of the year. Jewasko collected Baylor Classic All-Tournament Team honors and was named event’s top libero after racking up 74 digs (4.4 dps) in four contests. She later picked up a season-best 27 digs in a home matchup with I-35 rival Texas State and added 19 a day earlier against UT Arlington en route to Southland Defensive Player of the Week accolades on Sept. 29.

UTSA, winners of 19 matches last fall (11-5 SLC), collected 106 points in the coaches poll and was 23 behind 2008 Southland Regular Season Champion Texas State and six back of SLC Tournament Champion Lamar. The Roadrunners picked up 100 tallies in the SIDs rankings, including one first-place vote, but trailed the Bobcats and Cardinals by 22 and 14 points, respectively. Central Arkansas was the consensus choice to win the East.

The Roadrunners kick off the 2009 season on Friday, Aug. 28, when it plays at the Mean Green Classic in Denton. UTSA will open up with a 1 p.m. tilt at North Texas followed by matches against Northern Colorado (10 a.m.) and SMU (4:30 p.m.) the next day. All three contests can be heard live on goUTSA.com (courtesy of Yahoo! Sports).