NAPERVILLE, Ill. - With the start of the 2026 regular season less than two weeks away, anticipation is building for another exciting season of College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin women's volleyball and a competitive season is expected among the conference's head coaches based on the results of this season's preseason poll.

Last year's regular season and CCIW Tournament champions, Illinois Wesleyan University, claimed the top spot in the poll with 62 points and seven first-place votes following a 2025 campaign that saw the Titans finish undefeated in CCIW play and advance to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Four All-CCIW members from last season return, including first teamers Alex Bardouniotis, Sophia Feeney, and Eleanor Palmer. Bardouniotis finished her sophomore season as an Honorable Mention All-American, while Feeney was named the CCIW Setter of the Year. The winner of the past two CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year awards, head coach Kim Nelson-Brown looks to field another strong team with seven returning starters from last season's 28-win squad.

Looking to challenge Illinois Wesleyan atop the CCIW standings is Carthage College, which took second in the preseason poll with 58 points and the remaining two first-place votes. The Firebirds finished tied for second in the conference last season with a 5-3 record and advanced to the CCIW Tournament championship match before falling to the Titans. Two All-CCIW performers from 2025 return, including Honorable Mention All-American Kristina Manojlovic. Under head coach Leanne Ulmer, Carthage never shies away from elite competition in non-conference play and the Firebirds should be battle-hardened by the time CCIW play rolls around in late September.

Coming in third in the poll is the team Carthage tied with last season in the regular season, Millikin University. The Big Blue racked up 49 points in the poll and head coach Whitney Nichols will lean on the experience of 2025 First Team All-CCIW Kyra Carothers and four other returning starters to guide Millikin back toward the top of the conference standings.

There is a tightly-clustered group of teams that finished in the middle of the preseason poll and will be looking to claim one of the top-six spots that locks up a berth in the CCIW Tournament. Leading that group of teams in fourth place is North Central College, who finished with 36 points in the poll. A pair of Second Team All-CCIW performers in Lauren Benson and Sarah Harvey return for head coach Ray Gooden, with Harvey finishing 2025 as the conference's leader in assists per set with an average of 10.29 in eight CCIW matches.

Finishing a single point behind the Cardinals in fifth place is Wheaton College with 35 points in the poll. The Thunder put together a 22-win campaign in Eric Plunkett's second season in charge of the program and will rely on the duo of Katherine Adkison and Sydney Overweg up front to replicate that success in 2026.

Elmhurst University rounded out the top six in the CCIW preseason poll with 31 points. The Bluejays were turning a corner in the late stages of the 2025 season, registering victories over Millikin, Carthage, and North Central in the final weeks of the season before missing out on the CCIW Tournament due to tiebreakers. Paige Belfield was named the CCIW First Year Student-Athlete of the Year for head coach Cameron Andrew and contributes in all facets of the game after averaging 2.49 kills and 2.29 digs per set as a freshman.

Carroll University took seventh place in the poll with 23 points. The Pioneers and head coach Emma Mertler were within points of advancing to the CCIW Semifinals last year and will welcome the return of Second Team All-CCIW performer Payton Depies in an effort to get back in the running for the conference tournament once again.

Eighth place in the preseason poll went to North Park University with 20 points. The Vikings managed 18 wins in 2025 under head coach Michael Sopocy despite being on the wrong side of seven five-set defeats. A change in fortunes and the services of 2025 Second Team All-CCIW honoree Meg Rothermel could springboard North Park to big things this season.

Rounding out the poll in ninth place is Augustana College with 10 points. The Vikings advanced to last season's CCIW Tournament, but lost seven graduating seniors and will undoubtedly feature a number of new faces for head coach Kelly Bethke in an effort to advance to postseason play once again.

The 2026 season begins with non-conference matches on Sept. 1 and the CCIW portion of the schedule begins with Carthage traveling to take on Wheaton on Sept. 22. The regular season concludes on Nov. 7 and the top six teams in the standings will advance to the CCIW Tournament, with all matches in the tournament hosted by the higher seed. The tournament begins with a pair of quarterfinal matches on Nov. 10, followed by the semifinals on Nov. 12 and the championship match on Nov. 14.

Matches being played at CCIW venues can be streamed for free all season long through the CCIW Network.
 

Projected Place	Team	Points	Votes for First	Votes for Seconds	Votes for Thirds
1	Illinois Wesleyan	62	7	-	1
2	Carthage	58	2	6	-
3	Millikin	49	-	3	4
4	North Central	36	-	-	2
5	Wheaton	35	-	-	2
6	Elmhurst	31	-	-	-
7	Carroll	23	-	-	-
8	North Park	20	-	-	-
9	Augustana	10	-	-	-

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The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, Ill.), Carroll University (Waukesha, Wis.), Carthage College (Kenosha, Wis.), Elmhurst University (Elmhurst, Ill.), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, Ill.), Millikin University (Decatur, Ill.), North Central College (Naperville, Ill.), North Park University (Chicago, Ill.) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, Ill.).