Aug. 20, 2008

Grand Valley State University was chosen by the head volleyball coaches of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to win the league's North Division in the 2008 preseason poll, released on Wednesday. The 2007 North Division and GLIAC Tournament champion, GVSU received 24 points, plus four of six first-place votes.

The Lakers edged out Northern Michigan, which tallied a pair of first-place votes and 18 points, while Ferris State and Michigan Tech tied for third place with 16 points. Saginaw Valley State (11 points) and Lake Superior State (5) rounded out the North Division.

Hillsdale and Ashland split the six first-place votes in the South Division, with the Chargers topping the poll with 23 points and AU notching 22 points. Northwood (17 points), Findlay (13), Wayne State (10), and Tiffin (5) close out the South Division.

Each of the GLIAC's 12 coaches voted for the teams in their division, but could not vote for their own team. First-place votes were worth five points, second-place votes were worth four, etc.

Conference play opens on Sept. 10 with Findlay hosting Tiffin in a 7:30 p.m. match. The GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals will begin Nov. 12 at campus sites, with the semifinals and finals taking place Nov. 15-16 at the camps of the highest remaining seed.

Grand Valley State opens its season at the "Middle of Everywhere" Classic, hosted by Missouri S&T, on Aug. 29-30 in Rolla, Mo. The Lakers begin league play on Sept. 12 with a 7 p.m. contest at Wayne State.

Also on Tuesday, GVSU was ranked sixth in the CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll. Concordia St. Paul, the defending national champion, received 35 of the 36 first-place votes, finishing ahead of Washburn and Truman State. Cal State San Bernardino was slotted fourth and West Texas A&M, which eliminated the Lakers in last year's Elite Eight, is fifth in the first poll.

An early glance at Grand Valley State's schedule shows the Lakers will face five teams ranked in the top-25 (Truman State, Pittsburg State, Hillsdale, Augustana, and Ashland) and perhaps meet up with GLVC schools Lewis (no. 15) and Indianapolis (no. 16) in the GLVC-GLIAC Crossover Tournament on Oct. 17-18.

Returning 12 letterwinners and four starters from the 2007 Elite Eight squad, the Lakers are coming off of a 33-4 season, in which they captured their fourth consecutive North Division title.

North Division
School (first-place votes) Points
1. Grand Valley State (4)  24
2. Northern Michigan (2)   18
3. Ferris State            16
   Michigan Tech           16
5. Saginaw Valley State    11
6. Lake Superior State      5
South Division
School (first-place votes) Points
1. Hillsdale (3)           23
2. Ashland (3)             22
3. Northwood               17
4. Findlay                 13
5. Wayne State             10
6. Tiffin                   5

Click here to see the full AVCA Preseason Poll