INDIANAPOLIS – Coach
Jenifer Bahner's Drury Volleyball Panthers have been tabbed for a fifth-place finish in the West Division in the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason poll of league coaches released on Wednesday.
Bahner is entering her second season with Drury, after having guided the Panthers to a 16-11 overall finish last season that included a 7-11 mark in league play for a squad that dropped four league matches in five sets. DU returns key performers this season in senior middle-hitters
Laynie Timmons and
Chloe Foster, senior outside hitter
BJ Specht and junior setter
Brooke Antenen.
Drury Volleyball opens its season with four matches Sept. 4-5 in the Washburn Invitational in Topeka, Kan., with the home opener coming on Tuesday, September 22 vs. Missouri Southern at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
The University of Indianapolis and Rockhurst University have been selected to win their respective divisions in the eyes of the GLVC head coaches, who awarded the Greyhounds seven first-place votes in the East and the Hawks 10 in the West.
GLVC Preseason Poll Video The GLVC regular season will again feature an East and West Division with the top-three teams from each side and two wild cards earning a berth to the eight-team GLVC Volleyball Championship Tournament on Nov. 20-22 at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois.
The Hawks earned 115 points to top the West Division poll and return to the court led by veteran head coach, Tracy Rietzke, who stands second all-time among NCAA DII women's volleyball coaches for total victories (1,119-251). A pair of 2014 All-Americans in senior Preecy Seever and junior Morgan Rietzke will be back in 2015 after helping last year's squad to a 28-5 record and a trip to the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship final.
The Bulldogs, who earned 110 points and six first-place votes, are back under the direction of seven-year mentor and reigning GLVC Coach of the Year, Ben Briney. Last season Briney guided Truman to the Midwest Region's No. 1 seed and a 29-4 overall record. Middle hitter Ali Patterson will again lead the Bulldogs after compiling AVCA All-America honorable mention and GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year recognition a year ago.
Indianapolis and Lewis University went neck-and-neck in East preseason balloting, but the Greyhounds finished one point better in the polls, drawing 110 total points. Guided by Jason Reed, UIndy made its eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance last year, and outside hitter Hailey Brown returns as a senior after a 2014 All-American campaign.
The Flyers earned 109 points and five first-place votes to take second in the preseason poll. All-America honorable mention Alexis Davito returns to the right side for her senior campaign to lead a Lewis squad that finished 22-8 last year with the program's ninth-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
McKendree University tallied the remaining four first-place votes and finished with 97 points to garner third in the East after advancing to the 2014 GLVC Championship final and its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Missouri S&T (89) and University of Missouri-St. Louis (77) were in third and fourth, respectively, while Drury University (60), Quincy University (55), Maryville University (38) and William Jewell College (25) rounded out the eight-team West division. University of Southern Indiana was voted fourth best in the East with 78 points, followed by University of Wisconsin-Parkside (64), Bellarmine University (50), Saint Joseph's College (32) and University of Illinois Springfield (28).
Be sure to follow @GLVCsports on Twitter and Instagram – hashtag #GLVCvb – and stay tuned for select coverage throughout the season on the GLVC Sports Network at GLVCsports.com/watch.
| 2015 GLVC Volleyball West Preseason Poll |
| Place | Institution | Total (First Place Votes) |
| 1 | Rockhurst | 115 (10) |
| 2 | Truman State | 110 (6) |
| 3 | Missouri S&T | 89 |
| 4 | Missouri-St. Louis | 77 |
| 5 | Drury | 60 |
| 6 | Quincy | 55 |
| 7 | Maryville | 38 |
| 8 | William Jewell | 25 |
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| 2015 GLVC Volleyball East Preseason Poll |
| Place | Institution | Total (First Place Votes) |
| 1 | Indianapolis | 110 (7) |
| 2 | Lewis | 109 (5) |
| 3 | McKendree | 97 (4) |
| 4 | Southern Indiana | 78 |
| 5 | UW-Parkside | 64 |
| 6 | Bellarmine | 50 |
| 7 | Saint Joseph's | 32 |
| 8 | Illinois Springfield | 28 |
