Mansfield, Mass. – The Le Moyne College volleyball team has been selected third in the Northeast-10 Conference Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Poll, as voted upon by the league's 15 head coaches and announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning.
The Dolphins (22-7, 12-2 NE10), who won the Northeast-10 Regular Season title last year, earned 166 total points to finish third in the voting. American International College (28-7, 11-3 NE10), which won the NCAA East Regional championship last year, captured the top spot in the poll with eight first-place votes and 185 total points. The University of New Haven (20-9, 11-3 NE10), which won the NE10 Championship as the third seed last season, placed second in the poll with 178 points after collecting four first-place votes. Adelphi University (20-13, 9-5 NE10), which fell to New Haven in the NE10 title match last November, garnered the remaining three first-place votes and 160 points to finish fourth. Pace University (23-9, 8-6 NE10), which upset the top-seeded Dolphins in the First Round of the NE10 Championships last year, was tabbed fifth with 139 points, while Saint Anselm College (20-8, 10-4 NE-10) landed in sixth place with 129 points after finishing last season fourth in the standings. After tying with Pace for sixth place last year, Bentley University (11-18, 8-6 NE10) and Franklin Pierce University (12-15, 8-6 NE10) rounded out the teams expected to qualify for the NE10 Championships with 128 and 98 points, respectively.
Stonehill College (12-13, 7-7 NE-10) received 96 points to place ninth, while Southern New Hampshire University (7-21, 4-10 NE10) was tabbed 10th in the poll with 72 points. Southern Connecticut State University (15-19, 4-10 NE-10) landed in 11th place with 65 points, while The College of Saint Rose (11-15, 6-8 NE-10) was one point back in 12th. Merrimack College (6-23, 4-10 NE-10) edged Assumption College (5-19, 2-12 NE10) by one point for 13th place, 42-41, while Saint Michael's College (3-16, 1-13 NE10) rounded out the poll with 20 points.
Le Moyne returns 10 letterwinners and five starters from last year's team that went 22-7 (12-2 NE10) and earned its first-ever berth in the NCAA Championships. The Dolphins open the season on Friday, September 1 against Jefferson University (formerly Philadelphia University) at 5:00 p.m. the New York Institute of Technology as part of the Long Island Invitational. The Dolphins play their home and Northeast-10 Conference opener on Saturday, September 16 against Southern Connecticut State University at 2:00 p.m.
The eight-team conference championship begins with Quarterfinal Round action on Tuesday, November 14. The Semifinals will be played on Friday, Nov. 17, while the Championship Match will take place the next day, Saturday, Nov. 18.
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2017 Northeast-10 Conference Volleyball Preseason Poll
1. American International – 185 (8), 2. New Haven – 178 (4),
3. Le Moyne – 166, 4. Adelphi – 160 (3), 5. Pace – 139, 6. Saint Anselm – 129, 7. Bentley – 128, 8. Franklin Pierce – 98, 9. Stonehill – 96, 10. SNHU – 72, 11. SCSU – 65, 12. Saint Rose – 64, 13. Merrimack – 42, 14. Assumption – 41, 15. Saint Michael's – 20.
( ) – indicates first-place votes
