MCVL announces Coaches Preseason Poll

ST. LOUIS - Fontbonne University men's volleyball was picked to finish 12th in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League, as announced by the conference office.

Defending regular season and tournament champion Carthage was selected as the preseason favorite. The Red Men went undefeated in league play a season ago, finishing the year with a 27-2 record, which included an appearance at the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship. Over the last two seasons, Carthage has yet to lose in the MCVL, sporting a 17-0 mark.

MSOE and Dominican tied for second, each garnering 167 points. MSOE returns three of four All-MCVL honorees while Dominican returns all three of their post-season awardees. Rounding out the fourth slot in the preseason poll was Lakeland College with 148 points. The Muskies were 10-3 in conference last year with a 17-9 overall record and return their lone All-MCVL pick.

Fontbonne picked up 57 points, ahead of Adrian and Olivet and return all starters except libero Jimmy Stika and right-side hitter Zach Pelker. All of Fontbonne's heavy hitters, middle blockers and service kings return to the court after record-setting performances last year.

The Griffins picked up four freshmen in setter Kyler van Rossum-O-Connell, liberos Sebastian Roca and Zach Rothstein and outside hitter Patrick Meadie. Also new to the program is junior transfer Josh Farley (right-side hitter). Last season the Griffins finished 17-10 overall, a program record for wins in a season and finished 4-9 in MCVL play.

Fontbonne opens their 2017 season at Olivet College in a tri-match which includes Brooklyn College on January 20th. The Griffins open at home on Saturday January 28th against Loras College at 1 p.m.

For the first time in league history, the 14-team conference will be organized into two divisions, according to geography, and the winner of the postseason tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship. Teams will play in-division twice and out-of-division once with the top four teams with the best overall conference record making it to the conference tournament. The 2017 MCVL Tournament is scheduled for the weekend of April 14-15, 2017 and will be hosted at the site of the regular season champion.

Preseason Coaches Poll

Preseason Coaches Poll organized by Division

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