Calvin tops 2015 AVCA Division III preseason poll

Calvin, the host of this year’s championship, is listed atop the 2015 NCAA Division III women’s volleyball preseason poll released today by the AVCA.

Emory is ranked second, defending champion Hope third, Wittenberg fourth and Cal Lutheran fifth. Rounding out the top 10 are sixth-ranked Christopher Newport, followed by Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Washington-St. Louis and Juniata.

Calvin received 42 of 63 first-place votes. Hope claimed 17 top votes, Emory three and Cal Lutheran one.

Other Central and Midwest region teams in the AVCA top 25: No. 11 Carthage; No. 17 St. Thomas; No. 19 Elmhurst; No. 20 Augsburg; No. 21 Nebraska Wesleyan; No. 22 Cornell; No. 24 Wisconsin-Whitewater; No. 25 Coe.

Central and Midwest region teams receiving votes in the preseason: Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Chicago; Northwestern; Saint Benedict; Millikin.

As part of my yearly preseason top 25 (plus 10 others) posted in early July, my top 10 was: Calvin; Cal Lutheran; Emory; Washington-St. Louis; Wittenberg; Hope; Colorado College; Christopher Newport; UW-Stevens Point; Carthage.

Think preseason polls are pointless? I tend to agree, but you may want to take the AVCA’s version of the tea leaves seriously. Last season AVCA pollsters had a preseason top four of Calvin, Emory, UW-Stevens Point and Hope. Those just happened to be the final four teams playing in 2014.

-Ricky Nelson