Wingate Picked by Coaches as SAC Volleyball Preseason Favorite

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Seven-time defending SAC champion Wingate has been voted No. 1 in the 2013 SAC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll, it was announced on Monday. The Bulldogs received the maximum number of possible first-place votes – 11 – under the poll's voting structure.

Wingate is coming off a 2012 season in which it went 32-3 overall and 16-2 conference play. The Bulldogs – who also won their seventh-straight Food Lion SAC Volleyball Championship title last year - reached the national quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship for the second time in three years.

Tusculum, which finished second in last year's regular-season standings and was the runner-up at the SAC Volleyball Championship, is second in the preseason poll. The Pioneers received one first-place vote in the poll after finishing last year 24-8 overall and 14-4 in the league. TC also earned an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament and reached the Southeast Regional Final before falling to Wingate.

A pair of 2012 NCAA Tournament selections – Lincoln Memorial and Newberry – are third and fourth in the preseason poll, respectively. LMU went 21-14 overall and 12-6 in the SAC last season, while Newberry finished 19-15 overall and 10-8 in the conference.

Lenoir-Rhyne – which also earned an NCAA Tournament bid in 2012 – is No. 5 in the poll, followed by Catawba at No. 6 and conference newcomer Queens at No. 7. L-R finished 19-12 overall and 11-7 in the SAC last season, Catawba went 12-15 overall and 9-9 in the league, and Queens had an overall record of 22-12 and shared the Conference Carolinas East Division title after going 14-2.

Mars Hill is No. 8, Carson-Newman No. 9 and Anderson No. 10 in the preseason poll. MHU finished last year with a 14-15 overall and 7-11 SAC record, Carson-Newman went 11-16 overall and 5-13 in the league, and Anderson ended at 13-17 overall and 5-13 in the conference.

Rounding out the preseason poll are Brevard at No. 11 and Coker – playing its first season in the SAC – at No. 12. Brevard went 10-19 overall and 1-17 in the SAC last season, while Coker finished 8-22 overall and 7-9 in Conference Carolinas play.

Also released on Monday was the 2013 SAC Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team, which is led by a league-high five selections apiece from Wingate and Tusculum.

Headlining the First Team is defending SAC Player of the Year and SAC Championship MVP Anna Hilton of Wingate. Hilton – who was also named an All-American by the AVCA in 2012 – ranked second in the conference with a .311 hitting percentage and fifth with 363 kills.

Hilton is joined on the preseason First Team by teammates Lexi Potter and Susie Murach - both of whom were members of the 2012 All-SAC First Team.

Tusculum had three student-athletes named to the preseason First Team as well, led by Caitlyn Dean, who was an All-Conference First Team pick in 2012 after leading the nation with 932 digs. Dean's teammates Kassie Voelker and Ashley Sarmiento also earned preseason first-team selections from TC.

Voelker was voted to the 2012 All-SAC First Team, while Sarmiento – last year's SAC Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and SAC Presidents Award recipient - was a selection to the Second Team.

Completing the preseason First Team are Newberry's Samantha Parrish and Lenoir-Rhyne's Haley Rhyne. Parrish finished second in the SAC last year with 473 kills, while Rhyne ranked seventh with 353. Both were All-SAC First Team selections in 2012.

Reigning SAC Freshman of the Year Shelly Stumpff of Wingate leads the preseason Second Team, and is joined by Mars Hill's Marissa Wixson and Maggie Murphy, Tusculum's Megan Hasse and Danae Stauffer, Anderson's Shannon Gillespie, Wingate's Alison Cooke and Queens' Keri Kemp.

The 2013 SAC volleyball regular season gets underway on Thursday, Sept. 5 when Brevard hosts Virginia-Wise.

2013 SAC Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team

First Team

Anna Hilton, WU

Samantha Parrish, NEW

Haley Rhyne, L-R

Caitlyn Dean, TC

Lexi Potter, WU

Kassie Voelker, TC

Susie Murach, WU

Ashley Sarmiento, TC

Second Team

Shelly Stumpff, WU

Marissa Wixson, MHU

Shannon Gillespie, AU

Megan Hasse, TC

Keri Kemp, QU

Alison Cooke, WU

Maggie Murphy, MHU

Danae Stauffer, TC