NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- 2012 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) volleyball champion Elmhurst was picked to defend its title in a preseason coaches' poll announced Monday.
The Bluejays (33-8, 7-0 in 2012) placed first in the preseason poll with 49 points including seven first place votes. Elmhurst won its 10th CCIW title in school history last season and followed it up with a CCIW Tournament title and an appearance in the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship's semifinal round.
Carthage (25-12, 5-2), CCIW champions in seven of the last nine seasons, finished second in the poll with 42 points and one first place vote.
North Central (23-11, 5-2) was third with 34 points, while Millikin (25-10, 4-3) placed fourth with 27 points and Illinois Wesleyan (18-15, 3-4) was fifth with 26 points.
Wheaton (13-23, 2-5), coming off a CCIW Tournament title game appearance, was picked sixth with 24 points, followed by Augustana (20-11, 2-5) in seventh with 15 points and North Park (7-23, 0-7) in eighth with seven points.
Voting is done by the CCIW’s head volleyball coaches. Each coach votes for the seven other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (seven points for first, six for second, etc.). Coaches do not vote for their own teams.
2013 CCIW Volleyball Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
First Place
Votes |
|
1 |
Elmhurst |
49 |
7 |
|
2 |
Carthage |
42 |
1 |
|
3 |
North Central |
34 |
|
|
4 |
Millikin |
27 |
|
|
5 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
26 |
|
|
6 |
Wheaton |
24 |
|
|
7 |
Augustana |
15 |
|
|
8 |
North Park |
7 |
|
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2012-13 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,400 academic all-conference recipients, 15 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-Americans, 30 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, 68 all-Americans and one national championship team.