Women's Volleyball Tabbed For Seventh in CCC Poll

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Six-time defending champion Roger Williams University has been selected as the favorite to win the 2015 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) volleyball championship after receiving four first place votes for a total of 76 points in the CCC preseason poll. Salve Regina University, the 2014 runner-up, claimed second place with 69 points and three first place votes. Western New England University claimed third with 65 points and one first place vote. Endicott College was tabbed fourth with 59 points and the remaining first place vote while the University of New England earned 42 points for fifth to round out the top billing.

Voting for the preseason poll was conducted among the league's head volleyball coaches.

Four of the top five teams in the 2015 poll competed in either the NCAA Tournament or the ECAC Tournament a season ago. After Roger Williams captured their sixth-consecutive CCC title, a 3-1 (21-25, 25-14, 25-15, 26-24) win over Salve Regina, the Hawks' postseason continued with a NCAA first round game at Stevens Institute of Technology. Roger Williams logged its second-consecutive win in the NCAA tournament, a 3-0 (27-25, 25-23, 25-21) victory over Western Connecticut State University. The Hawks would see their season end in the second round of the NCAA tournament as Stevens Institute of Technology handed RWU a tough 3-1 (25-17, 25-27, 23-25, 21-25) loss. Salve Regina, Western New England and Endicott all competed in the ECAC tournament. In the quarterfinals, Western New England received a bye while Salve Regina beat MCLA 3-0 and Endicott claimed a 3-0 win over Southern Maine. The semifinals saw the Gulls knock out the top seeded Golden Bears, 3-2, while the Seahawks beat Worcester State 3-0. Salve Regina went on to claim the 2014 ECAC championship title after a 3-0 victory over Endicott.

A 14-14 finish a season ago marked the first time the Wentworth women's volleyball team has finished with a .500 or better in consecutive seasons and this season the Leopards look to take their recent success a step further by being in the hunt for a Commonwealth Coast Conference playoff berth. Fourth-year head coach Evin Giglio welcomes back nine players from last year's squad, led by senior outside hitter Hannah Bailey (Plymouth, Mass.), who earned All-CCC honors as a sophomore. Bailey led the team with 229 kills to go along with 212 digs last season. Junior middle hitter Stephanie Nihan (Dracut, Mass.) recorded 110 kills and 30 blocks as a sophomore, while junior middle hitter Jordan Young (Derry, N.H.) returns after a sophomore season that saw her record a team-high 58 blocks to go along with 117 kills and 20 aces. Sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Carlson (Stratford, Conn.) looks to have a solid sophomore campaign after recording 63 kills and 17 aces as a freshman.

2015 CCC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll

All nine CCC volleyball teams begin their quest next week for the 2015 conference title. The CCC six-team volleyball tournament will begin Tuesday, November 3, with quarterfinal action between seeds 3-6. The top two seeds will host semifinal matches on Thursday, November 5 and the championship match will be held on Saturday, November 7.

Wentworth opens the 2015 season at the Scranton Invitational the weekend of September 4-5.