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SALVE REGINA UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS
Posted: Aug 31, 2018

Seahawks receive first place vote in preseason coaches' poll

Seahawks receive first place vote in preseason coaches' poll

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University women's volleyball team has been voted to finish third in the Commonwealth Coast Conference(CCC) in a preseason poll conducted by the coaches.

The Endicott women's volleyball team is in search of its third straight CCC Tournament Championship this season and will start off the year as the preseason favorite as determined by the poll.

The Gulls claimed 78 points in this year's voting, including six of the possible nine first place votes cast by the league's nine head volleyball coaches.

A year ago, the reigning champions went 8-1 (22-10 overall) in conference play and qualified for the CCC Championship Tournament as the No. 2 seed. They advanced to CCC Championship match, where they edged out top-seeded Roger Williams, 3-2, in a five-set thriller. In the NCAA Tournament, the Gulls fell to Ithaca in the First Round.

Roger Williams lands in the No. 2 spot in this year's poll after finishing 2017 with a perfect 9-0 record (20-7 overall) in CCC play to claim the Regular-Season Championship. The Hawks came back from a 2-1 deficit in the Championship match to force a fifth set before surrendering the title to the Gulls.

Salve Regina was the last school to claim a first place vote this year. The Seahawks, which made a CCC Semifinals appearance last year, earned 54 points in the voting and sit in the No. 3 hole. The other CCC Semifinalist, Wentworth, earned 52 points to finish fourth in the rankings.

Western New England (48 points), Gordon (41), the University of New England (31), Curry (18), and Nichols (10) closed out the poll in that order.

2018 CCC Women's Volleyball Pre-season Coaches' Poll

  1. Endicott  78 (6)
  2. Roger Williams 73 (2)
  3. Salve Regina 54 (1)
  4. Wentworth 52
  5. Western New England 48
  6. Gordon 41
  7. U. of New England 31
  8. Curry 18
  9. Nichols 10

Head coach Lauren Parsons enters her seventh season leading the Seahawks. The team has made the playoffs in each of the six previous seasons including two conference championship matches. The Seahawks return 11 players from last season's team including first-team All-CCC middle blocker Annie Donahue (Chelmsford, Mass.) who led the team in both kills and blocks.  "We have many returners with a lot of playing experience and I feel we are going to have multiple contributors from all positions this season," said Parsons.  "The incoming class is talented and aggressive and the dynamic of the team is very competitive."

Read the full release from the Commonwealth Coast Conference at http://cccathletics.com/sports/wvball/2018-19/releases/2018WVBPoll

Salve Regina University
Salve Regina athletics sponsors 20 NCAA Division III varsity sports for men and women. The Seahawks compete in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC - baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, field hockey, football, men's ice hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, women's track and field, women's volleyball), New England Hockey Conference (NEHC - women's ice hockey), New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA - sailing). Beginning in 2017-18, Salve Regina will also sponsor equestrian as a varsity sport, and adds junior varsity programs for baseball and men's lacrosse.