Sports : UCM
VOLLEYBALL: MIAA coaches say Jennies will finish 4th this season
Aug 5, 2008, 8:40 PM
WARRENSBURG, Mo.-– The Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball squad was picked to finish fourth in the 2008 MIAA Preseason Coaches’ Poll Tuesday. The Jennies tallied 72 points and one first-place vote in the now 11-team conference race.
Central Missouri finished second in the MIAA East Division with a 9-4 conference mark last season, and it will have an even tougher task in 2008, after losing four starters and five seniors from a 2007 squad that went 31-7 and finished as the No. 10 team in NCAA Division II.
The Jens will have to compete with 13 freshmen and sophomores on the roster this year.
The already stacked MIAA just got better with the addition of Nebraska-Omaha, who made it to the NCAA North Central Regional semifinals in 2007.
The MIAA had five teams in the NCAA Tournament, including all four South Central Regional semifinalists. That makes it the only league in the nation with six NCAA Tournament teams (out of 11 schools). There will also be only one division (no east and west divisions) and every team will play a home and away match against every school.
Defending champion Truman State was the pick to repeat, garnering 93 points (five first place votes), while national semifinalist Washburn had 88 points and two first-place votes. Coming in third was Pittsburg State at 84 points and three first-place votes, while Emporia State was a couple points behind the Jennies in fifth. Newcomer UNO was sixth at 56 tallies.
Every coach ranked the teams in the order they expected them to finish and were not allowed to vote for their own team. Points were awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Central Missouri finished second in the MIAA East Division with a 9-4 conference mark last season, and it will have an even tougher task in 2008, after losing four starters and five seniors from a 2007 squad that went 31-7 and finished as the No. 10 team in NCAA Division II.
The Jens will have to compete with 13 freshmen and sophomores on the roster this year.
The already stacked MIAA just got better with the addition of Nebraska-Omaha, who made it to the NCAA North Central Regional semifinals in 2007.
The MIAA had five teams in the NCAA Tournament, including all four South Central Regional semifinalists. That makes it the only league in the nation with six NCAA Tournament teams (out of 11 schools). There will also be only one division (no east and west divisions) and every team will play a home and away match against every school.
Defending champion Truman State was the pick to repeat, garnering 93 points (five first place votes), while national semifinalist Washburn had 88 points and two first-place votes. Coming in third was Pittsburg State at 84 points and three first-place votes, while Emporia State was a couple points behind the Jennies in fifth. Newcomer UNO was sixth at 56 tallies.
Every coach ranked the teams in the order they expected them to finish and were not allowed to vote for their own team. Points were awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
