JWU Women’s Volleyball Ranked 6th in AVCA Division III National Preseason Poll
Following last year's run to the Elite Eight and 35 straight wins, including three at the NCAA Providence Regional, JWU is ranked sixth in the country entering the 2018 campaign.
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Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Last season another historic run put the Johnson & Wales University women's volleyball team on the map. Coaches across the country think the Wildcats will be a force again this season as they are ranked sixth in the preseason AVCA Coaches Poll.
It's the first time JWU has started the year nationally ranked. The Wildcats earned 1,121 points to come in just behind Emory. Defending national champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps received 42 first-place votes to take the top spot in the preseason poll.
Johnson & Wales ended the 2017 campaign sixth in the nation after making a run to the program's first NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. The Wildcats posted the best record in the country, 35-1, before falling to Calvin – picked No. 2 in the poll – in the NCAA quarterfinals.
The voters have a good reason to be optimistic about head coach Nancy Somera's squad as she brings back all seven starters from last year, including four All-Americans. First-Team All-American and New England Region Player of the Year, Kate Walker led the NCAA in hitting percentage for the second year in a row. A Third-Team All-America selection, junior setter Brylee Frank was 14th in the NCAA at 10.36 assists per game.
On the outside, the Wildcats have as good of a 1-2 punch as you'll find in the country. Named Second-Team All-American, junior Maria Coniglio produced 3.07 kills per set in 2017 while senior Katie Leidhold, an Honorable Mention All-American, was next at 2.79 kps.
Dating back to the 2015 season, Johnson & Wales has won 71-straight regular season games. The Wildcats will get tested right out of the gate as the travel to CMS to take on the Athens as well as Cal Lutheran, who is receiving votes, during the opening weekend. JWU travels to MIT on September 18 to take on the Engineers, who start the year at No. 20.