Covenant College volleyball has been picked third in the South Division of the USA South Conference and fifth overall.
Maryville College, under the direction of Head Coach Kandis Schram, in her 29th year, was picked to be the South Division favorite in 2014. The Scots are the defending South Division and USA South Tournament champions.
As for the North Division, Meredith College, under the direction of Head Coach Fiona Barkley, in her eighth year, was picked to capture the division.
In the overall voting, Maryville ranked first, followed by Piedmont College and Averett University. The head coaches do not vote for their own team in the preseason poll process.
Each divisional preseason poll only includes votes from coaches within that particular division while voting for the overall preseason poll includes votes from each coach in the Conference. This is the second season that the Conference will split into divisions in the sport of volleyball.
In the South Division, Maryville, the defending division and tournament champions, received four of the five first place votes and 16 points. Piedmont was picked second with 12 points while Covenant grabbed the final remaining first place vote and 11 points to round out the top-half of the divisional poll.
In the North Division, Meredith, received four of the eight first place votes and 46 points. Last year's North Division champions, Averett, ranked second in the poll with 45 points and the remaining four first place votes. William Peace University with 38 points and Methodist University with 30 points placed third and fourth, respectively, to round out the top-half of the divisional poll.
The volleyball regular season gets underway on Friday, Aug. 29, as eight of the League's 13 teams are in action.
For the third consecutive year, the 2014 USA South Tournament will head to Martinsville, Virginia as the Southern Virginia Recreation Facilities Authority will host the event. The contests will be held at Patrick Henry Community College. First round matches will take place on Friday, November 7, following by the semifinals and final which will be played on Saturday, November 8. The top-five seeded teams from the North Division and the top-three seeded teams from the South Division, after the conclusion of regular season competition, will advance to the tournament.