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Volleyball ties for fifth in America East Preseason Poll
Bearcats begin season Friday, Aug. 24 at the Boston College Tournament
August 21, 2012
Contact: Terrence Lollie (sports@binghamton.edu)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The America East preseason volleyball poll was released Tuesday afternoon and the Binghamton program finished in a tie for fifth with Hartford. The voting was conducted by the seven conference head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own team.
Two-time defending America East champion Albany led the poll with 35 points and received all but two first-place votes. The Great Danes were followed by 2011 America East finalist Stony Brook with 29 points. The Seawolves were one of two teams to receive a lone first-place vote. UMBC, the other team to receive one first-place vote, edged out fellow 2011 postseason participant New Hampshire for third place, 24-23. The Bearcats tied Hartford for fifth place, with each program receiving 15 points. Providence, an associate member in volleyball, rounded out the seven-team poll with six points.
The top four teams in the final standings will advance to the 2012 America East Championship, which begins on Nov. 16 or Nov. 17. The regular season champion will be awarded the top seed and host the tournament. Albany has won the past four regular season championships. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Volleyball Championship.
Binghamton, which opens its season Friday, Aug. 24 at the Boston College Tournament against the hosts, returns five starters plus the libero to its 2012 squad. Last season, the Bearcats missed the America East Tournament for the first time since 2003.
The Bearcats return a quartet of hitters that each accumulated over 200 kills in 2011. Sophomore Kristin Hovie, junior Grace Vickers and seniors Alex Roland and Iva Partaleva were the only foursome in the conference to tally at least 200 kills. Roland and Hovie were each selected to America East all-conference teams in 2011. Binghamton also returns all-conference libero junior Xiomara Ortiz, who ranked third in the conference with 4.48 digs per set.
Following their match against Boston College, the Bearcats will take the court with Texas Tech, Siena and Fordham during the two day four-match tournament.
2012 AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Points
1. Albany (5) - 35
2. Stony Brook (1) - 29
3. UMBC (1) - 24
4. New Hampshire - 23
T-5. Binghamton - 15
T-5. Hartford - 15
7. Providence - 6
