NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Elmhurst was picked to defend its College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) volleyball title according to the CCIW's preseason coaches' poll announced Wednesday.
The Bluejays (37-5, 7-0 in 2013) won the poll with 46 points and four first place votes. Elmhurst made its third-straight trip to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship last season and has won back-to-back conference titles heading into this season. The program owns the most conference titles in CCIW history with 11 since 1986.
Millikin (27-11, 6-1) was second in the poll with 42 points and three first place votes after advancing to the CCIW Volleyball Tournament title match last season. Carthage (24-14, 5-2), a CCIW Tournament qualifier in 2013, placed third with 40 points and one first place vote.
Wheaton (24-12, 4-3), coming off a CCIW Tournament berth last season, placed fourth with 31 points. Illinois Wesleyan (12-20, 1-6) was fifth with 22 points, while North Central (12-22, 1-6) was sixth with 20 points.
Augustana (16-14, 3-4) and North Park (11-23, 1-6) rounded out the poll with 16 and seven points respectively.
Voting is done by the CCIW's head volleyball coaches. 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 do not vote for their own teams.
2014 CCIW Volleyball Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
Pts. |
1st Place Votes |
|
1. |
Elmhurst |
46 |
4 |
|
2. |
Millikin |
42 |
3 |
|
3. |
Carthage |
40 |
1 |
|
4. |
Wheaton |
31 |
|
|
5. |
Illinois Wesleyan |
22 |
|
|
6. |
North Central |
20 |
|
|
7. |
Augustana |
16 |
|
|
8. |
North Park |
7 |
|
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2013-14 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,400 academic all-conference recipients, 14 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and 87 all-Americans.