Lock Haven's Xuan Gao (left) and California's Bridget Bielich (right).
Lock Haven, Pa. – Lock Haven and California, two schools that have combined in the win the last seven consecutive PSAC championships, have been tabbed as the favorites in the 2010 PSAC preseason volleyball coaches’ poll. The Lady Eagles have been chosen unanimously to win the Eastern Division while the Vulcans have been picked to win the Western Division, although by a much thinner margin than the previous two seasons. This marks the second straight year that the Lady Eagles have been chosen as favorites in the East while California is the favorite in the West for the third straight year.
Lock Haven was followed in the East by West Chester, which has finished either tied or alone in second place in the PSAC East in each of the last two seasons. Shippensburg came in third and was followed by Kutztown in fourth. Both of those schools finished tied for second place in the East last year along with West Chester. East Stroudsburg and Millersville tied for fifth place while Cheyney rounded out the poll in seventh. In the West, California received three first place votes to edge out second place Clarion by just two points, this coming after being a unanimous pick last year and receiving six out of seven first place votes two years ago. The Golden Eagles got two first place votes to finish in second place while third place Gannon and fourth place Edinboro each also received a single first place vote. Mercyhurst, IUP and Slippery Rock rounded out the poll, as it reflects the final standings of the 2009 season with the exception of Edinboro and Gannon, which tied for third place last year.
Last year, for the second time in the last three seasons, the PSAC had six teams qualify for the NCAA Tournaments – California, Clarion, Edinboro, Gannon, Lock Haven and Mercyhurst, with California winning the regional and advancing the NCAA Elite Eight for the third straight season.
Lock Haven will have to replace four starters from last year but will have its two top leaders in kills returning in last year’s PSAC East Player and Freshman of the Year Xuan Gao, whose 3.43 kills per game led the team and whose .361 hitting percentage was second in the PSAC. The Lady Eagles also return junior Haley Gribler, a former PSAC East Freshman of the Year from two seasons ago. They also return sophomore Grace Novacek, who will likely see even more action this year with the departure of Christie Naumann and Kim Windstein, who led the PSAC in hitting percentage last year.
California will also have some replacing to do, as the Vulcans lose three of their top four hitters from last year as well as their setter. Gone was program stalwarts Joanna Nist, the PSAC’s leader in kills last year, Ludmila Amaral, and Ashley Moore, as well as last year’s PSAC assist leader Renata da Silva, all four of whom were big contributors on Cal’s last three PSAC and NCAA Regional championship teams and two of which – Nist and Amaral – were the PSAC West Players of the Year in each of the last two seasons. Their lone two returning hitters are junior Bridget Bielich (2.60 kpg) and sophomore Meghan Franz (1.31 kpg). They also return a pair of solid defenders in last year’s senior libero Julie Paronish, who started last year, and junior libero/defensive specialist Sara McMullen, who saw significant action last year as well. That foursome will be heavily relied on if the Vulcans are to win their fourth straight PSAC championship.
Listed below are the preseason PSAC volleyball coaches polls. First place votes are in parenthesis.
Eastern Division
1. Lock Haven (7)
2. West Chester
3. Shippensburg
4. Kutztown
T5. East Stroudsburg
T5. Millersville
7. Cheyney
Western Division
1. California (3)
2. Clarion (2)
3. Gannon (1)
4. Edinboro (1)
5. Mercyhurst
6. IUP
7. Slippery Rock