Women's Volleyball | 08/14/2019
AVCA
Preseason Division III Poll
ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Less than 24 hours ahead of the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team's return to campus, the team received some good news.
Saint Benedict – which lingered in the NCAA Division III's top 25 rankings late last season – heads into the 2019 campaign ranked 25
th in Division III, it was announced Wednesday afternoon when the AVCA released its annual Division III preseason poll.
The top-25 ranking comes a season after CSB finished the year in the Sweet 16 – the team's deepest NCAA Tournament run since 2012. After finishing second in the MIAC, CSB went 26-8 in 2018 and went 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament.
UW-Eau Claire – the team that knocked Saint Benedict out of the tournament – starts the year ranked fourth in the nation. Emory holds the No. 1 spot, and Calvin is No. 2. Gustavus is the only other MIAC team ranked to start the season as the Gusties checked in at No. 18 in the preseason poll.
CSB returns several key returners from the 2018 season, including twin juniors
Hunter Weiss and
Madison Weiss, who both earned All-American accolades as sophomores. Setter
Katie Koch is back for her junior season after earning All-MIAC honors as a sophomore, and libero
Haley LaValle is back for her senior campaign.
Saint Benedict returns to campus Thursday afternoon. The team's first practice is Saturday, and its first official match of the 2019 season is Friday, Aug. 30, against Whitman at the Trinity National Invite in San Antonio, Texas. The team's first home match is Friday, Sept. 6, when it hosts Morris as part of the CSB Tournament.
