Women's Volleyball Places Second In NEAC Preseason Poll

FULL RESULTS: NEAC Women's Volleyball Preseason Poll (PDF)

GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – The Wells College women's volleyball program was voted to finish second in the first-ever North Eastern Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Preseason Poll, the league announced Thursday afternoon. Wells placed second out of 13 NEAC programs, the best-ever finish for an Express team this fall. The final rankings were determined following a poll of the league's 13 head coaches.

Gallaudet University, the recipient of 12 first-place votes, was selected to repeat as the NEAC Champions in 2015 after posting five-consecutive league championships.  Wells received the 13th and final first-place vote and was voted to finish second to the Bison, trailing Gallaudet by a 144-to-122 margin in points. Keuka College rounded out the top-three with 114 points.

"It's been a great pre-season for us – the team came in healthy and hungry to build off last year, and the new players are fitting in great," remarked Head Coach Richard Gary. "This group is so motivated and that's inspiring for me and every day the staff is working to focus and maintain their crazy and fun energy. 

"This year's team is the most fundamentally sound group I've coached here at Wells, so we've been able to attempt some more complex aspects of the game which I hope will pay off as we face larger and more experienced programs. I am happy that my peers hold our program in high esteem and we must work hard to live up to those expectations." 

Entering only its fourth year as a varsity program, the Wells women's volleyball team concluded its most successful season in team history with a 23-11 record after posting a 10-2 record against NEAC competition in 2014. The Express shattered virtually every offensive and defensive team record en route to racking up the most overall victories amongst all NEAC schools.

Additionally, Wells was the only NEAC school to rank within the top-three in team kills, team kills per set, team hitting percentage, team assists per set and team digs per set. Wells also tied Cobleskill St. for the best out-of-conference record amongst NEAC squads (10-8) and played a tough non-NEAC schedule that included 20-win squads from Ithaca, Scranton and St. Lawrence.

Gary, the league's reigning Coach of the Year, returns all three of his All-Conference players from a season ago, including Rookie of the Year Anuhea Leite-Ah Yo (Hilo, Hawaii). In total, 11 players and five starters return to the roster after losing only two players, Taryn Heath '15 and Jessilyn Artaho-Aki '15, to graduation.

Wells opens their season Tuesday, Sept. 1 as they head to Oswego State University for a 7 p.m. match. The Express will open the newly-renovated Farenthold Athletic Wing on Wednesday, Sept. 23 as they welcome SUNY Delhi for a 7 p.m. match.

2015 NEAC Women's Volleyball Preseason Poll Full Results

*Tie broken by higher ordinal number points