Conference Carolinas

Mount Olive Voted Top Team in Men’s Volleyball Coaches Preseason Poll

1/13/2014 12:00:00 AM

High Point, NC – Conference Carolinas coaches have selected the University of Mount Olive as the number one ranked team going into the 2014 Men’s Volleyball season. Mount Olive returns a two-time All-Conference Carolinas selection and two additional full or part-time starters from last year’s regular season conference championship squad. The Trojans have won three regular season titles and two tournament titles in the four years men’s volleyball has been a conference sport. 

Two-time All-Conference Carolinas outside hitter Angel Dache ranked third in the nation in service aces in 2013. He also compiled the 14th highest hitting percentage in the nation and ranked 18th in kills per set.

The Trojans’ 2014 schedule includes away contests against nationally second-ranked Loyola (Ill.) and eighth-ranked Lewis (Ill.) during the first weekend of the season. Mount Olive is also on the road at No. 11 Penn State and vote-getter IPFW. The Trojans play host to vote-getter and Ivy League member Princeton. 

In his first year at Mount Olive, head coach David Heller was named 2013 Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball Coach of the Year.

The Pfeiffer University men’s volleyball team, despite winning their second straight Conference Carolinas tournament championship, has been picked to finish second in the preseason coaches’ poll for the second straight season. Pfeiffer, while capturing the 2013 conference tournament championship, also boasted three players on the 2013 all-tournament team, two players on the all-conference first team, the Conference Carolinas’ player of the year, and the tournament’s most outstanding player. 

In 2013, the Falcons led the conference in assists as a team and also featured the league’s assist leader per set in David Specian. Specian, who heads into his junior season, was named to the preseason Lloy Ball Award Watch List by Offtheblock.com. Specian was sixth in the nation with a 10.74 assists per game average and in the nation’s top 25 with a 0.29 assists per game average in 2013. 

Pfeiffer will look to repeat as Conference Champions under the guidance of first-year Head Coach Paul Lawson.

Following one of the most successful seasons in program history, Limestone men's volleyball has been picked to finish third in Conference Carolinas in 2014.

Last season the Saints not only tied the program record for wins with 15 (15-14, 9-7 CC) but they also made the Conference Carolinas Tournament for the second consecutive year, posted the first two postseason wins in program history and advanced to their first championship match.

Among those post season victories was a 3-1 win over regular season champion Mount Olive, which had finished 22-6 overall and 15-1 in league play, on their home floor. While the Saints graduated a number of key players from last year's record setting team, they have reloaded with a talented group of freshman and transfers and are poised to build off of the success of last season.

Erskine finished fourth in the poll with Lee-McRae fifth followed by Belmont Abbey, King and Barton College respectively rounding-out the poll standings.

 

Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Pre-Season Poll   

(# of First Place Votes in Parenthesis)