From the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference:

SUWANEE, Ga. – In exclusive balloting by the league's head coaches, the Southwestern University Pirates have been picked to finish second in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, while defending SCAC champion Trinity University is the preseason favorite to win the 2022 SCAC women's volleyball title.

Southwestern University (25-6; 12-4) is ranked 18th in the AVCA coaches' poll after returning to the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since 2017. The Pirates received one first-place vote and finished second in the SCAC preseason poll with 71 total points. Head coach Don Flora returns a pair of All-SCAC performers from last year's SCAC Tournament runner-up squad, led by First Team honoree, senior outside hitter Emma White. White finished her junior season with 353 kills and 48 services aces to lead the Pirates and finished fourth and second, respectively, in those categories in the conference. The 2021 SCAC Elite 19 award winner for volleyball, White also earned AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention honors. Senior Riley Brantley joins White as a returning all-conference performer, earning Third Team accolades last season as a middle blocker. Brantly paced the Pirates with 93 blocks last year, sixth best in the SCAC. Flora enters his seventh season at the helm of the Pirates and his 67 total SCAC wins ranks him seventh all-time in league history.

"We have a team dynamic that has helped set the tone for the 2022 SCAC season. We have depth that will allow us to be creative offensively and defensively", Coach Flora says about his team. Flora will look to bring his team back to the SCAC Championship match for the second year in a row, eyeing a SCAC title they last won in 2015. 

Trinity, which begins the season ranked fifth in the AVCA coaches' poll, earned seven of the nine first-place votes to tally 79 points in the preseason balloting. The Tigers (34-3 overall in 2021; 16-0 in the SCAC) return a pair of former AVCA All-America honorees from last year's squad in senior rightside hitter Sara Flynn, a 2021 Honorable Mention honoree, and senior middle blocker Emily Ellis, a 2019 Second Teamer. Senior Marisa Amarino returns as the team's starting setter after earning All-SCAC Third Team honors a year ago, along with 2021 SCAC Tournament MVP, senior rightside Sarah Williammee, who landed on the conference's Second Team last season.

Colorado College (30-6; 13-3), ranked 14th in the AVCA coaches' poll following the Tigers' 30th NCAA Tournament appearance last season, received the final first-place vote and is predicted to finish third with 65 total points. Last year marked the fourth-straight full season, Colorado College has won at least 30 games. Second-year head coach Sharon Dingman returns three All-Conference performers, highlighted by reigning SCAC Setter-of-the-Year and First Team All-SCAC performer, junior Jenny Jenks. Jenks led the SCAC and finished second in the nation with 1,368 assists last season. She also paced the conference by averaging 10.94 assists per set, good enough for fourth-best in all of Division III. Junior Isabella Lipacis and senior Peyton Hummel join Jenks as returning all-conference honorees. Lipacis secured Second Team accolades last year after finished second in the SCAC with 384 kills, while Hummel took home Third Team honors after finishing fourth in the league with 466 digs.

Texas Lutheran University (19-14; 9-7) received 49 points in the preseason balloting and was the coaches' fourth selection. Last season the Bulldogs produced their first winning mark in SCAC play since the 2017 season and appear poised for another big year with the return of two major award winners from last year's SCAC honors: senior Lexi Morris who was the Backrow-Player-of-the-Year and sophomore Shavonne Respondek who earned Freshman-of-the-Year honors a year ago. Morris led the country with 735 digs last year, while Respondek made an immediate impact for head coach Phyllis Fowler, leading the team in assists (493 – 11th in the SCAC) and finishing second with 31 aces.  

University of St. Thomas (11-18; 5-11) finished with 45 points to round out the top five in this year's preseason balloting. Head coach Keanne Burt returns a strong leadership core with six seniors, led by All-SCAC Second Team performer Paige Havel. Havel led the SCAC and NCAA in both blocks (177) and blocks per set (1.61) last year. Joining Havel as returning All-Conference performers from last year's squad is sophomore Ally Peters. Peters earned Third Team accolades after pacing the Celts with 402 digs and finishing fourth in the SCAC with a 4.37 digs per set average.

Austin College (20-11; 7-9) received 42 points to place sixth in the preseason balloting. The 'Roos and head coach Ed Garza reached the 20-win plateau last year for the first time since the 2017 season. Austin College will be led this year by junior outside hitter Victoria Smith, who earned Third Team All-SCAC accolades a year ago after producing 256 kills and 67 blocks.

Rounding out the coaches' preseason poll, University of Dallas (11-17; 5-11) was picked seventh with 21 points, followed by Schreiner University (4-19; 3-13) in eighth with 19 points and Centenary College (15-22; 2-14) in ninth with 14 total points.

The 2022 SCAC Volleyball season is set to tip off with non-conference action on Thursday, September 1, while the first SCAC regular season weekend is scheduled for Saturday, September 24 with Centenary and St. Thomas hosting cross and group pods. Following the completion of the regular season, the top six teams in the league will compete in a single-elimination tournament, hosted by Colorado College November 4 and 5, to determine the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.