American Volleyball Coaches Association Picks UMD at #7

Aug 13, 2012

Northland Sports Online

Each release of the national rankings by the American Volleyball Coaches Association since early 2002 has included the University of Minnesota Duluth. Zeroing in on 10 consecutive years in the national rankings, the Bulldogs came in at No. 7 in the Preseason Coaches Poll, released Tuesday afternoon.

Last fall UMD marched to an overall record of 28-4 and a share of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title, finishing at No. 6 in the final poll of 2011.

The NSIC had five teams crack the preseason top 25, with defending NCAA II champion Concordia-St. Paul receiving 800 points in the poll and the No. 1 slot. Southwest Minnesota State University (No. 6), Wayne State University (No. 12) and Minnesota State University-Mankato (23) rounded out the league’s representatives in the rankings.

The Bulldogs received 608 points on the voting scale to draw even with Washburn University of the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAA). The Central Region now consists of schools from the MIAA, Great American Conference (GAC) and NSIC following a shift in regional alignments by the NCAA.

The region has six of the top eight teams in the poll, including the University of Nebraska-Kearney (No. 4) and the University of Central Missouri (No. 5). UMD, which officially started practice on Monday, kicks off the 2012 season in Kirksville, Mo., at the Days Inn Bulldog Invitational hosted by Truman State University. The Bulldogs will take on both McKendree State University and Truman State in the opener Aug. 31

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