NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Carthage was picked to defend its College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) volleyball title according to the CCIW's preseason coaches' poll announced Tuesday.
The Lady Reds (36-4, 7-0) won the poll with 48 points and six first place votes and are coming off their first regular season title since 2011 and eighth title since 2004. Carthage qualified for the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship for the ninth time last season, losing to Calvin in the regional final.
Elmhurst (31-9, 4-3) finished second in the poll with 41 points and two first place votes after the Bluejays qualified for the NCAA postseason for the fourth-straight year in 2014, falling to Calvin in the regional semifinals.
Illinois Wesleyan (20-12, 3-4) was third with 36 points as the Titans narrowly missed qualifying for the final CCIW Volleyball Tournament last season. Wheaton (12-21, 4-3) placed fourth with 31 points after the Thunder qualified for their fifth-straight conference tournament in 2014.
Millikin (30-10, 5-2) placed fifth with 29 points. The Big Blue made their first NCAA appearance since 2005 last season, their sixth trip in program history.
Augustana (24-9, 3-4), North Central (20-14, 2-5) and North Park (9-24, 0-7) rounded out the poll with 17, 15 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.
The CCIW volleyball season begins Tuesday, September 1. The CCIW Preseason Men's & Women's Soccer Polls will be announced Wednesday, August 12, while the CCIW Preseason Football Poll will be announced Thursday, August 13.
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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 2014-15 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,500 academic all-conference recipients, 19 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 46 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and 102 all-Americans.