Tommie Sports - Volleyball
Volleyball ranked 8th in Div. III preseason poll
August 20, 2008
Setter Emily Foster (left) and MB Katie McCaffrey (center) lead 16 UST returners.
The St. Thomas volleyball team is ranked eighth in the 2008 preseason top 25 poll released Wednesday by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) and CBS College Sports Network. It's the 35th consecutive poll in which the Tommies have been included in the top 25 rankings.
Coach Thanh Pham's Tommies return four of seven starters from a 28-5 team that reached the region finals and went 14-0 against MIAC opposition. In all, 16 players return from the Toms' varsity and JV team of 2007. One Division I transfer and 10 freshmen round out Pham's 2008 roster.
Juniata (Pa.) and defending NCAA champion Washington (Mo.) are ranked 1-2 in the preseason poll.
St. Thomas starts its season with an Aug. 29-30 trip to play in the LaCrosse Invitational. The Toms also have weekend tournaments at Augsburg, at Trinity (Tex.) and at Simpson (Iowa), and will play host to the Iowa-Minnesota Border Battle, where they will face the top four finishers from the 2007 Iowa Conference standings. The San Antonio trip will include matches against Division III powers Trinity (Tex.) and Carthage.
The Tommies are scheduled to play at least six teams ranked in the top 25 -- No. 6 Trinity, No. 10 Carthage, No. 16 Concordia-Moorhead, No. 19 UW-Uae Claire, No. 20 UW-LaCrosse and No. 22 Central
Click here to view Division III preseason poll:
http://www.avca.org/collegiate/DIIIpoll/DIIIpoll8-20-08.asp
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