The Southwestern University Volleyball team will start the
season as the team to beat in the conference as the Pirates were
voted into the eighth place spot with 413 points in the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s
Preseason Poll. The eighth place ranking is highest of any
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference school and is one slot
higher than the Pirates finished in 2008.
Head Coach Hannah Long returns 12 letterwinners from last
year’s squad that finished with a 36-5 overall record and
lost to the eventual national champion, Emory, in the Regional
Final match. Emory took the top spot in the 2009 AVCA Preseason
Poll with 20 first place votes and 595 points.
Juniata College took the second position with 555 points and one
first-place vote. 2008 NCAA runner-up La Verne is No. 3 with 550
points while Wisconsin-Oshkosh (521 pts.) and Washington University
(495 pts.) round out the top five.
Ohio Northern, who the Pirates face early on at the Ohio Northern
Tournament on September 5th, is sixth in the poll (479 pts.) and
Carthage is in the seventh slot with 446 points.
The Pirates will begin their 2009 campaign at home on September
1st against the University of Dallas at 6:00 pm.