ATLANTA, Ga. --- Asbury volleyball was recently Preranked No. 5 for their opening campaign in the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS).
The Eagles will begin the 2024 season on Friday, August 30 at the Earlham Invitational in Richmond, In.
Coming off a 2023 season that saw a doubled win amount from 2022, head coach
Tiffany Horton's team is poised for another year of growth. Horton enters her third season at the helm of AU volleyball, leading a mix of experienced upperclassmen and talented underclassmen.
Team-leaders from 2023 returning in purple and white include junior media communication major
Riley McChord with 393 digs and 35 service aces, junior Biology Pre-Nursing major
Lucy Kate Gray with 736 assists, and elementary education major
Emma Grace Gray with 293 kills.
The reigning CCS champions, Covenant College, return to the court with momentum after an extraordinary 2023 season. The Scots dominated the competition with a remarkable 35-3 overall record, going undefeated in conference play with a 16-0 record. Their exceptional season earned them a spot in the national rankings, where they cracked the top 25 for the first time in school history.
Maryville College, picked second in the preseason poll with 56 points and three first-place votes, also had an impressive 2023 season under Coach Brienna Laskowski. Now the full-time head coach, Laskowski led the Scots last season to an 18-17 record and a deep run in the CCS tournament, where they made it to the championship game before falling to Covenant. Maryville's determination to reclaim the title will be a storyline to watch this season.
Huntingdon College comes in third with 54 points and two first-place votes. The Hawks, who finished last season with a 14-19 overall record and an 11-6 mark in conference play, return a seasoned roster full of experience. With eight seniors on the squad, Huntingdon is poised to make a strong push for the championship this year.
Piedmont rounds out the top four with 38 points, returning two key all-conference players in setter Vanessa Manzo and outside hitter Katie Hubbard. The Lions finished last season with a 14-16 overall record and an 11-5 conference record.
Newcomer Asbury enters its first season in the CCS with 37 points, while Belhaven, LaGrange, Agnes Scott, and Wesleyan complete the preseason rankings.
The regular season kicks off on Friday, August 30, with the majority of conference teams in action. The 2024 CCS Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament will begin on Tuesday, November 12 featuring the top six squads, and will culminate with the championship game on Saturday, November 16, hosted by the highest-seeded team.
Below is a look at the 2024 CCS Women's Volleyball Preseason Poll. First-place votes are in parentheses:
2024 CCS WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON POLL
- Covenant - 60 points (4)
- Maryville - 56 points (3)
- Huntingdon - 54 points (2)
- Piedmont - 38 points
- Asbury - 37 points
- Belhaven - 34 points
- LaGrange - 21 points
- Agnes Scott - 15 points
- Wesleyan - 9 points
Read the full story released by the CCS with this link.
ABOUT THE COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTH (CCS)
The CCS is an NCAA Division III athletic conference that began play during the 2022-23 academic year. The conference features nine members institutions (Agnes Scott College, Asbury University, Belhaven University, Covenant College, Huntingdon College, LaGrange College, Maryville College, Piedmont University, and Wesleyan College) and sponsors championships across 14 sports. In addition to sharing the member institutions' geographic identity, the name 'Collegiate Conference of the South' is indicative of a shared commitment to academic excellence, which is commensurate with the NCAA Division III philosophy.
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