Volleyball Set to Open Practice with #19 National Ranking
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The American Volleyball Coaches Association released their Division III Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll on Wednesday and the Southwestern Pirates landed tied for 19th in the nation.
Head Coach Hannah Long begins her ninth season leading the Pirates and looks to push SU even higher in the ranks as the season progresses. She returns 10 athletes from last-year's squad that finished 30-4 and advanced to the NCAA National Tournament for the seventh consecutive year.
As has always been the case with Coach Long's teams, the Pirates boast one of the most challenging schedules in Division III. Seven of Southwestern's opponents enter the season in the top 25, including a match-up with the current #1 team in the nation, Christopher Newport, on October 13th in Boston, Mass.
Southwestern will take their #19-tied national ranking on the road to Seattle, Wash. to open the season on August 31st. They face UC Santa Cruz at 11am PST before taking on #25 Pacific Lutheran in the nightcap.
|
Rank |
School (First-Place Votes) |
Total Points |
2011 Record |
2011 Final |
|
1 |
Christopher Newport (14) |
676 |
38-5 |
2 |
|
2 |
Washington-St. Louis (7) |
653 |
34-2 |
6 |
|
3 |
Calvin |
590 |
33-1 |
4 |
|
4 |
Emory |
578 |
36-5 |
8 |
|
5 |
Wittenberg (3) |
572 |
37-3 |
1 |
|
6 |
Cal Lutheran |
550 |
29-7 |
9 |
|
7 |
St. Thomas (Minn.) |
544 |
31-5 |
7 |
|
8 |
Hope |
492 |
25-7 |
14 |
|
9 |
Eastern |
443 |
36-3 |
3 |
|
10 |
Juniata |
433 |
27-8 |
10 |
|
11 |
Elmhurst |
360 |
31-6 |
19 |
|
12 |
Carthage |
317 |
33-7 |
5 |
|
13 |
SUNY Cortland |
270 |
42-2 |
16 |
|
14 |
Colorado College |
231 |
33-7 |
12 |
|
15 |
Chicago |
229 |
30-6 |
T-17 |
|
16 |
UMass-Boston |
211 |
28-5 |
20 |
|
17 |
Wisconsin-Whitewater |
174 |
26-8 |
T-21 |
|
18 |
Mount Union |
163 |
25-8 |
NR |
|
T-19 |
Concordia (Minn.) |
159 |
26-4 |
11 |
|
T-19 |
Southwestern (Texas) |
159 |
30-4 |
T-17 |
|
21 |
Heidelberg |
150 |
32-7 |
15 |
|
21 |
Springfield |
147 |
34-3 |
13 |
|
23 |
Occidental |
141 |
21-9 |
T-21 |
|
24 |
Trinity (Texas) |
137 |
22-16 |
NR |
|
25 |
Pacific Lutheran |
116 |
21-6 |
25 |
Others Receiving Votes and listed on two or more ballots: Otterbein 107; Wartburg 79; Wisconsin-Stevens Point 56; Puget Sound 47; Cornell (Iowa) 46; St. Benedict (Minn.) 30; Tufts 28; Chapman 24; Austin 23; Whitworth 23; Millikin 22; Wisconsin-Eau Claire 19; Hardin-Simmons 15; Bowdoin 11; Coast Guard 11; Middlebury 10; Randolph Macon 9; Dominican 8; Washington & Lee 7; Skidmore 6; St. Scholastica 5; Roger Williams 2
Five schools mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 17 combined points.
Next Poll: September 4, 2012
Poll conducted and distributed by the AVCA
