FROM STAFF REPORTS

University of Montevallo junior middle hitter Manyi Ati was named to the Peach Belt Conference eight-member preseason All-Conference team, which was announced Aug. 23 by the conference office in Augusta, Ga.

As selected by the conference’s head coaches, the preseason team has six players, a libero and a setter.

Armstrong Atlantic State and Flagler College both placed three players on the team, while Montevallo and Augusta State had one player each. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.

Ati was named a first-team All-Conference selection in 2011 after finishing in the Peach Belt Conference’s top 10 in kills, kills per set and hitting percentage. A redshirt junior from Lawrenceville, Ga., Ati had 3.11 kills per set, second most in the conference, and was third in the league with a .343 hitting percentage. A PBC Player of the Week pick a year ago, she had double-digit kills in 21 matches.

The Falcons, under the direction of fifth-year head coach Katie O’Brien, open the 2012 season at the seventh annual Lions Classic at Saint Leo University on Aug. 31.