SUWANEE, Ga. -- In exclusive balloting by the league’s head coaches, defending SCAC regular season champion Trinity University is the preseason favorite to win the 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s volleyball title.
On the heels of its second-straight undefeated season in SCAC play and a magical run to the NCAA Division III National Championship match, the Trinity program looks to capture its third conference tournament title in the last five years.
The Texas Tigers, who begin the season ranked second in the ACVA coaches’ poll, earned seven of the nine first-place votes cast by league head coaches for 79 total points. Colorado College, which has made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances since 2008 and finished as the SCAC Tournament runner-up last season, garnered the final two first-place votes to place second in the poll with 72 total points. Southwestern University, following its ninth season since 2013 with 10 or more conference victories, rounded out the top three in the poll with 65 points.
Reigning SCAC Tournament Champion, Texas Lutheran University edged out University of St. Thomas for fourth with 49 total points, while the Celts checked in at fifth with 48 points. After qualifying for its 16th-straight SCAC Tournament a season ago, Austin College finished sixth in the poll with 44 points.
Rounding out the 2023 SCAC Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll is Schreiner University (23) in seventh, University of Dallas (19) in eighth and Centenary College (13) in ninth.
Trinity returns a pair of All-SCAC honorees from last year’s squad in fifth-year setter Marisa Amarino, a First Team selection, and senior middle blocker Maddie Fate, a Second Team honoree. Fate was also named Honorable Mention AVCA All-America. In 2022, Amarino finished third in the SCAC with 727 assists, while Fate ranked third in the league in both hitting percentage (.348) and blocks per set (1.21). Additionally, the Tigers return the 2022 SCAC Freshman-of-the-Year in Reagan Whatley.
The reigning AVCA Division III National Coach-of-the-Year, Julie Jenkins will embark on her 39th season as the head coach of the Trinity volleyball program. The active NCAA Division III leader in victories, Jenkins has amassed an overall record of 1,049-430 (.709), and since taking the reins of the Tigers in 1985, she has chalked up a Trinity record of 1,020-409 (.713). Jenkins, whose teams have won 30 or more matches in 20 different seasons, has amassed a career mark of 385-38 (.910) in SCAC competition (since 1991).
The 2023 SCAC Volleyball season is set to tip off with non-conference action on Friday, September 1, while the first SCAC regular season weekend is scheduled for Friday, September 22nd. Following the completion of the regular season, the top six teams in the league will compete in a single-elimination tournament, hosted by Southwestern, November 10 and 11, to determine the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.
2023 SCAC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
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| 1. | Trinity University (7) | 79 |
| 2. | Colorado College (2) | 69 |
| 3. | Southwestern | 61 |
| 4. | Texas Lutheran University | 49 |
| 5. | University of St. Thomas | 48 |
| 6. | Austin College | 44 |
| 7. | Schreiner University | 23 |
| 8. | University of Dallas | 19 |
| 9. | Centenary College | 13 |
