Carthage Picked to Win Sixth Straight CCIW Volleyball Title

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The head volleyball coaches in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) picked Carthage to win its sixth straight conference title in a preseason coach’s poll conducted Wednesday.

The Lady Reds (32-5, 7-0 in 2008), who have won the outright CCIW title in each of the last four seasons (Carthage shared the title with Elmhurst in 2004), won the poll with 48 points including six first place votes. Illinois Wesleyan (18-17, 5-2) was second with 40 points and one first place vote while Augustana (23-12, 2-5) was third with 37 points and one first place vote. North Central (24-13, 5-2) was fourth with 31 points while Elmhurst (22-14, 3-4) was fifth with 28 points.

Millikin (24-13, 4-3), Wheaton (17-16, 2-5) and North Park (19-12, 0-7) rounded out the poll with 19, 14 and seven points respectively.

Voting in the preseason poll is done by the head volleyball coaches in the CCIW. Each coach votes for the seven other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (seven points for first, six for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own team.

The CCIW volleyball season begins on Tuesday, September 1 as Augustana travels to Mount Mercy and North Central hosts Wisconsin Lutheran and Concordia (Ill.). North Park will take part in the Aurora Triangular. The rest of the conference begins its season on Friday, September 4 as Carthage travels to the Claremont-Mudd-Scripts Tournament while Elmhurst hosts its own invitational. Illinois Wesleyan will also take part in the Elmhurst Invitational while Millikin travels to St. Louis, Mo., for the Washington University Tournament. Wheaton travels to Whitewater, Wis., for a tournament at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

2009 CCIW Preseason Volleyball Poll