STATESBORO— Senior setter
Kirsten Barrett and junior outside hitter
Reagan Barth picked up Sun Belt volleyball preseason all-conference honors and the volleyball team was picked first in the East division, the league announced Wednesday.
The Eagles earned nine of a possible 14 first-place votes in the poll, earning 87 points overall and placing 10 votes ahead of second-place James Madison. It is the first time in program history that the Eagles have been picked first in the SBC poll. The full poll results are below.
East Division
1. Georgia Southern (9) – 87
2. James Madison (2) – 77
3. Coastal Carolina (2) – 75
4. App State (1) – 61
5. Georgia State – 44
6. Old Dominion – 27
7. Marshall – 21
West Division
1. Texas State (11) – 95
2. Arkansas State (3) – 81
3. South Alabama – 68
4. Troy – 54
5. Louisiana – 42
6. Southern Miss – 38
7. ULM – 14
Barrett, now in her fourth year at Georgia Southern, earns her first-ever preseason honors from the conference after earning All-SBC Second Team honors a year ago. In 2024, she appeared in all 102 sets and was one of four to start all 29 matches, all as the team's setter, earning SBC Setter of the Week three times.
Barrett was the first Eagle since Kat Minnerly in 2014 to have over 1,000 assists in a season, finishing with 1,011. In a career year, she led the team in assists, assists per set (9.91), aces (46), and aces per set (0.45). She also finished in the top three in the Sun Belt in assists and assists per set and led the conference in aces and aces per set.
Nationally, Barrett finished top-100 in the NCAA in aces per set (38th), assists per set (57th), aces (59th) and assists (89th). She recorded 20 or more assists in all 29 games, finishing with 40 or more in seven of those contests, adding seven double-doubles during the season.
Barth, a junior, makes her second consecutive appearance on the preseason all-conference squad, becoming the first Eagle to do that since the team joined the conference. In 2025, she earned All-SBC First Team honors after leading the Eagles with a career-high 356 kills and finishing with a .235 hitting percentage.
Barth finished second on the Eagles in digs (290) and digs per set (2.96) and was tied for the team lead with 0.45 aces per set, leading the team in kills per set (3.63) and points per set (4.45).
She became the first Eagle to record back-to-back seasons with 350+ kills since Jamie DeRatt in 2013 and 2014 and the first Eagle with at least 350 kills and 250 digs since DeRatt in 2014. The Lenexa, Kan. native had double-digit kills 21 times and a pair of 20-kill games, achieving 13 double-doubles and 14 games with 10 or more digs.
Volleyball will open its 2025 season with an exhibition at Enmarket Arena against South Carolina on Aug. 23.
