ROCK HILL, S.C. – UVA Wise volleyball has been tabbed 13th in this year's South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league office announced Thursday morning.
Head coach Kristen Salyer is in her ninth season at the helm of the program. The Cavs finished the 2019 campaign picking up a single win in the season opener. UVA Wise returns seven to this year's roster including seniors Madelyn Lawrence, Makayla Ledford, and Brooke Abbott.
Wingate University was selected the preseason favorite with 10 first-place votes. The Bulldogs went 30-3 overall in the 2019 regular season, including 21-1 in the SAC, winning the regular season title. The Bulldogs fell to Carson-Newman in the SAC Championship, but went on to earn a bid and finish their season at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional semifinals.
Queens, coming in at No.2 in the poll collected 121 total points. The Royals finished off the 2019 season with a record of 24-7 overall and 19-3 in conference play.
Coming in at No. 3 with 137 total points and the remaining three first place votes is the SAC reigning champions, Carson-Newman. The Eagles went 28-8 overall and 16-6 in conference play.
Anderson grabs the No. 4 spot with 128 total points after going all the way to the NCAA Southeast Region Tournament where they fell to Wingate. Not far behind in the No. 5 spot is Tusculum with 104 points, Mars Hill at No. 6 with 94 points and Lenoir-Rhyne with 90 points at No. 7.
Taking the No. 8 spot with 71 points is the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters. Catawba came in at No. 9 with 66 points, Limestone ranked at No. 10 with 63 points and with 57 points at No. 11 was Newberry.
Rounding out the poll at No. 11 and No. 12 was Coker and UVA Wise with 44 and 24 points respectively.
Accompanying the release of the preseason poll was the announcement of the 2020-21 SAC Volleyball Preseason All-Conference teams. Selected by the league's media relations directors, the preseason all-conference teams feature three players from both Anderson and Queens, two players from Tusculum, Carson-Newman, Wingate and Mars Hill and a single player from Lenoir-Rhyne and Catawba.
The 2020-21 SAC Women's Volleyball season will commence on February 24, with the SAC Championship being held April 6-7 at the Rock Hill Sport & Event Center.
Coach Salyer and the Cavs return to the court in the home and conference opener against Queens (NC) Sunday, February 28. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center.
2020-21 Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
|
Rank
|
School (First Place Votes)
|
Points
|
|
1.
|
Wingate (10)
|
154
|
|
2.
|
Queens
|
138
|
|
3.
|
Carson-Newman (3)
|
137
|
|
4.
|
Anderson
|
128
|
|
5.
|
Tusculum
|
104
|
|
6.
|
Mars Hill
|
94
|
|
7.
|
Lenoir-Rhyne
|
90
|
|
8.
|
Lincoln Memorial
|
71
|
|
9.
|
Catawba
|
66
|
|
10.
|
Limestone
|
63
|
|
11.
|
Newberry
|
57
|
|
12.
|
Coker
|
44
|
|
13.
|
UVA Wise
|
24
|
2020-21 SAC Volleyball Preseason All-Conference
First Team
Gabby Gray, Tusculum
Megan Oldenburger, Carson-Newman
Logan Witt, Queens
Emiah Burrowes, Tusculum
Sophie Schaff, Wingate
Casey Tarvin, Queens
Taylor Prall, Lenoir-Rhyne
Ully Martins, Mars Hill (L)
Second Team
Jaycee Jones, Queens (L)
Sarah Goddard, Mars Hill
Regan Duty, Anderson
Noelle Knutsen, Anderson
Kylie Morgan, Catawba
Erin Edwards, Carson-Newman
Maggie Young, Wingate
Maya Learmouth, Anderson
