Northwestern wins UMAC coaches’ poll

Northwestern received six of the eight first-place votes in the UMAC preseason coaches’ poll. St. Scholastica, my pick, snagged the two remaining top votes.

Northwestern returns one of the best young setters in the Central or Midwest regions in Krista Stoltz plus four other starters. But a couple of Stoltz’s top weapons were seniors last season.

Northwestern shared the 2011 regular season title with St. Scholastica, which returns reigning UMAC Player of the Year in outside Anna Zyvoloski. However, St. Scholastica must find replacements for a former UMAC Player of the Year outside, a two-time all-conference setter and starting libero.

I’m curious to see how St. Scholastica replaces so many key veterans, and I admit that the much safer choice is Northwestern considering the Eagles have won four of the last five UMAC regular season titles and secured an at-large bid to last year’s NCAA tournament.

-Ricky Nelson