Trinity preseason favorite to win 11th consecutive SCAC volleyball title
SUWANEE, Ga. - For 10 straight years
Trinity University has won the Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference championship. If the 2008 preseason coaches
poll is any indication, an 11th consecutive SCAC volleyball
championship should find its way to San Antonio.
The Tigers were tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the SCAC
championship. In the annual preseason vote by the league's head
coaches, Trinity garnered 10 of 12 first place votes and received
130 points to headline the poll. (See page 5 for complete voting
results).
Leading the Tigers is senior All-American setter Caroline Keener.
Keener tallied 1,212 assists in 108 games (11.22 per game) to move
into fourth place on the all-time Trinity assists list with 2,847.
Defensively, Trinity will rely on senior libero Megan Guest. Guest
recorded 3.69 digs per game and fired in a team high 77 aces.
Head coach Julie Jenkins and her Tigers start the season ranked No.
6 in the AVCA Division III Coaches Poll. Austin College checks into
the preseason top 25 at No. 13. Rhodes College and Southwestern
University both received votes in the AVCA preseason poll.
Trinity will look to make its 17th consecutive appearance in the
NCAA playoffs. Austin College (119 points, one first place vote)
was the only other team within 11 points of Trinity in preseason
voting and checked into the poll in second place.
Austin College finished last season with a
program best 38-6 record and a No. 14 national ranking. The
‘Roos made the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the South
Region semifinals. Austin looks to build on its highly successful
2007 campaign in what could be a historic season. The ‘Roos
are 16 wins shy of the program's 500th all-time win, and head coach
Ed Garza needs 26 wins to reach the 400 career win plateau.
Four schools were seperated by 16 points for spots three through
six. Colorado College (2007 NCAA participant) and Rhodes College
tallied 94 and 91 points respectively. Southwestern University
(2007 NCAA participant) and DePauw University round out the top six
with 83 and 78 points respectively.
Rounding out the 2008 predicted order of finish: Millsaps College
was tabbed seventh with 55 points and Centre College picked up 54
points to come in eighth. Hendrix College followed with 33 points
while Oglethorpe University (10th, 29 points) and
Sewanee-University of the South (11th, 15 points) complete the
poll.
Colorado College is celebrating its 30th year of
volleyball. Helping the Tigers continue its successful legacy is
senior outside hitter Ann Clithero. Clithero, a four year starter,
ranks third all-time in Colorado College history in both kills
(1,222) and digs (1,228). The Tigers also return sophomore middle
blocker Emily Perkins. Perkins set school single-season freshman
records for kills, blocks and aces.
Rhodes College returns eleven letter winners from
last year's. Head coach Samantha Lambert begins the 2008 season 12
wins shy of her 200th career victory. The tenth year head coach
will rely on junior setter Laura Jensen, who was named to the
All-SCAC Second Team in 2007.
Southwestern University looks to continue its
streak of NCAA Tournament appearances. The Pirates are aiming for
their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA's behind returning
starters Lauren Brown and junior outside hitter Audra Gentry as
well as junior libero Samantha Lingamfelter.
DePauw University returns 10 letterwinners
including five experienced seniors from last year's squad which
finished at 24-13 and advanced to the Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference tournament semifinals. Third team all-SCAC senior middle
hitter Adrienne Cobb leads the returning players after ranking
fifth in the conference in blocks per game (1.1) a year ago and
ninth in hitting percentage (.298).
Head Coach Jaime Burns returns to Millsaps College
after a three-year hiatus and 20-11 record as the head coach in
2004. Burns will look to senior outside hitter and co-captain Sarah
Exley who ranked third on the team in 2007 with 215 kills.
Looking to climb the ladder in the SCAC, the Centre
College volleyball team returns two seniors, seven
juniors, and one sophomore while adding six freshmen to the 2008
roster. Seniors Lindsay Smith and Layla Marefat have been major
contributors since their freshmen years.
The Hendrix College volleyball team will return
all six starters from 2007. The Warriors will look to junior
outside hitter and team captain Ryan Hughes for guidance. Also
returning is sophomore outside hitter Kim Larsen. Larson tallied
247 kills in 817 total attacks, 44 aces and 368 digs last
season.
Oglethorpe University volleyball, under the
direction of new head coach Kurt Matthews, looks to rebound from
last season's disappointing 9-28 finish. Oglethorpe returns
standout setter, Alison Burt, a junior from Spring, Texas, as well
as starters in 5'9 middle hitter Sara Blair from Knoxville, Tenn.,
outside hitter Trupti Patel of Lantana, Fla. and 5'6 libero Hilary
Miller from Memphis, Tenn.
The University of the South-Sewanee, under the
leadership of of fourth year coach Joe Dombrowski, brought in its
largest class of freshman in over six years. The Tigers have six
freshmen coming to the mountain this fall. Returners are
junior Mary Beth Epps, a middle hitter from Memphis, and Emily
Nicholson, a defensive specialist from Fort Campbell, Ky.
For the complete 2008 SCAC Volleyball Prospectus,
click here.
| 2008 SCAC Predicted Order of Finish | ||||
| 2007 Record Conf. / Overall | ||||
| No. of votes | ||||
| 1 | Trinity University Tigers | 130 (10) | 15-0 | 35-3 |
| 2 | Austin College Kangaroos | 119 (1) | 13-2 | 38-6 |
| 3 | Colorado College Tigers | 94 | 10-4 | 22-11 |
| 4 | Rhodes College Lynx | 91 (1) | 10-4 | 20-16 |
| 5 | Southwestern University Pirates | 83 | 8-6 | 30-12 |
| 6 | DePauw University Tigers | 78 | 8-6 | 24-13 |
| 7 | Millsaps College Majors | 55 | 6-9 | 17-25 |
| 8 | Centre College Colonels | 54 | 6-9 | 18-21 |
| 9 | Hendrix College Warriors | 33 | 2-13 | 16-19 |
| 10 | Oglethorpe University Stormy Petrels | 29 | 2-12 | 9-28 |
| 11 | Sewanee-University of the South Tigers | 15 | 0-15 | 2-20 |
| *Birimingham-Southern, a Division III provisional
member, was not considered in the pre-season conference rankings. Note: First-place votes (in parentheses) are worth eleven points, second-place worth ten, on down to eleventh-place votes being worth one. | ||||
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