Central Arkansas Named Favorite to Win 2014 Southland Volleyball Title
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Two-time defending regular-season and conference tournament champion Central Arkansas has been picked to win the 2014 Southland Conference regular-season championship in polls conducted by the league’s coaches and sports information directors, the conference announced Thursday.
The Sugar Bears claimed their second consecutive regular-season title last year and fourth in the past five years, going 29-4 overall and 18-0 within conference play. UCA captured its second conference tournament championship, returning to the NCAA tournament for only the second time in school history. The Sugar Bears own a 59-9 cumulative record over the past two seasons, which is the second most wins of any NCAA Division I volleyball program over the last two years. This season UCA returns four starters, including first-team all-conference selections Heather Schnars and Alicia Dittrich. Last season, the Sugar Bears led the conference in hitting percentage (.253), assists per set (13.15), kills per set (13.92) and service aces per set (1.62). The Sugar Bears were 17th nationally in aces per set, 30th in assists per set, 34th in hitting percentage and 42nd in kills per set. UCA received eight first-place votes from the coaches and 10 first-place nods from the SIDs to earn a total of 140 points in both the coaches’ poll and the SID poll.
Northwestern State, which finished second in the regular-season standings last season, has been picked second by both the coaches and SIDs. The Lady Demons are coming off a season in which they had the most overall wins (21), conference wins (15), highest conference finish (second), and highest RPI (98) in Northwestern State history. Finishing last season 21-12 overall and 15-3 in conference play, it was Northwestern State’s first back-to-back 20-win season in program history. The Lady Demons return all seven starters, including Libero of the Year Keelie Arneson, Freshman of the Year Ashley Elrod and first-team all-conference selection Stacey DiFrancesco. The Lady Demons received five first-place votes from the coaches and the final three first-place votes from the SIDs to give them a total of 135 points in the coaches’ poll and a total of 132 points in the SID poll.
In both the coaches’ poll and the SID poll, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was selected to finish third after receiving 118 total points from the coaches and 117 from the SIDs. The Islanders recorded a program best 13-5 conference record in 2013. A&M-Corpus Christi returns seven players from a season ago, including first-team all-conference selection Ivy Baresh.
In the coaches’ poll, Sam Houston State (106 points) was picked to finish fourth followed by Stephen F. Austin (99) fifth and Houston Baptist (94) sixth. The SIDs chose the Bearkats (105) to finish fourth and the Ladyjacks (103) fifth followed by a tie for sixth with the Huskies (81) and McNeese State (81).
UIW received 69 points from the coaches for the seventh spot followed by McNeese with 67 points, Lamar with 61 points and Southeastern Louisiana with 49 points to complete the top 10. Abilene Christian was selected 11th with 36 points, Nicholls 12th with 28 points and New Orleans picked up 12 points to finish 13th.
Lamar was selected eighth in the SID poll with 66 points followed by UIW in ninth with 62 points. Southeastern Louisiana received 48 points to round out the top 10. Abilene Christian was selected 11th with 40 points, Nicholls 12th with 27 points and New Orleans received 12 points to complete the SID poll.
ACU and UIW are in their second year of transition from Division II and will be ineligible for postseason play.
The 2014 Southland volleyball season begins Aug. 29 with conference play beginning Sept. 23. The conference tournament will be held Nov. 21-23 at Prather Coliseum on the campus of Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La. The championship match will be carried exclusively on ESPN3. In addition, quarterfinals and semifinal games of the tournament will be streamed live on the Southland Conference Digital Network, available at
southland.org and on the league’s Apple and Android mobile and tablet apps.
2014 Southland Conference Volleyball Preseason Polls
|
COACHES POLL |
|
Rk. |
School (first-place votes) |
PTS |
|
1. |
Central Arkansas (8) |
140 |
|
2. |
Northwestern State (5) |
135 |
|
3. |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
118 |
|
4. |
Sam Houston State |
106 |
|
5. |
Stephen F. Austin |
99 |
|
6. |
Houston Baptist |
94 |
|
7. |
UIW |
69 |
|
8. |
McNeese State |
67 |
|
9. |
Lamar |
61 |
|
10. |
Southeastern Louisiana |
49 |
|
11. |
Abilene Christian |
36 |
|
12. |
Nicholls |
28 |
|
13. |
New Orleans |
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
SID POLL |
|
Rk. |
School (first-place votes) |
PTS |
|
1. |
Central Arkansas (10) |
140 |
|
2. |
Northwestern State (3) |
132 |
|
3. |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
117 |
|
4. |
Sam Houston State |
105 |
|
5. |
Stephen F. Austin |
103 |
|
6t. |
Houston Baptist |
81 |
|
6t. |
McNeese State |
81 |
|
8. |
Lamar |
66 |
|
9. |
UIW |
62 |
|
10. |
Southeastern Louisiana |
48 |
|
11. |
Abilene Christian |
40 |
|
12. |
Nicholls |
27 |
|
13. |
New Orleans |
12 |