Bay City, Mich. -- The head volleyball coaches
of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC)
chose Saginaw Valley State University to finish fifth in the GLIAC
North for the 2008 season.
The Cardinals will 2008 coming off a stellar season in which the
Cardinals qualified for the GLIAC Tournament with a 20-12 overall
record (9-9 in GLIAC) and produced the 2007 GLIAC Volleyball Coach
of the Year in Will Stanton. The team also produced two All-GLIAC
performances, as Amy Howard and returning senior starter Sarah
Redoute (Clinton Twp., Mich./L'Anse Creuse HS) were picked
for the All-GLIAC Second Team. Returning senior Carmen Schacher
(Flint, Mich./Kearsley HS) was also tabbed an All-GLIAC Honorable
Mention player.
The Coaches selected Grand Valley State University to win the
North Division and Hillsdale College to win the South Division in
preseason balloting
Grand Valley State, the 2007 North Division and GLIAC Tournament
champion, received 24 points, including four of the five
first-place votes it was eligible for. The Lakers edged out
Northern Michigan University, who received 18 points and the only
other two first-place votes. Ferris State University and Michigan
Technological University both ended up with 16 points in a tie for
the third slot.
Saginaw Valley State University finished with 11 points in the
five spot, followed by Lake Superior State University in sixth
place with five points.
Hillsdale College, after winning the South Division last season,
received 23 points along with three first-place votes for the top
spot in this year's preseason poll. Ashland University
finished just one point behind Hillsdale with 22 points for the
second-place slot, including three first-place votes as well.
Northwood University finished in third-place with 17 points,
followed by the University of Findlay with 13 points in
fourth-place, Wayne State University in fifth-place with 10 points,
and Tiffin University rounding out the South Division in sixth
place with five points.
Each of the GLIAC's 12 coaches voted for the division in
which they play, but were not allowed to vote for their own team.
First-place votes were worth five points, second-place were worth
four, etc.
Expectations are high for the Cardinal squad this year as they try
to improve even more on their success from last year. The team as a
whole has some great goals in mind this year that they didn't
achieve last year, as making the NCAA Tournament and going further
into the GLIAC Tournament are the two main priorities for this
team.
SVSU's GLIAC play opens-up on Sept. 12 when the Cardinals
travel to Michigan Tech for a 7:00pm contest. The GLIAC Tournament
quarterfinals will begin Nov. 12 at campus sites, with the
semifinals and finals taking place Nov. 15-16 at the campus of the
highest remaining seed.
