Emory Volleyball Ranked No. 3 in Preseason Poll

SSG Note: Emory Eagles, we're rooting for you. After all the Olympic volleyball coverage lately, we're primed and ready to cheer you to victory!

Hopes are high in the Emory volleyball camp during the early stages of fall drills and those optimistic expectations are shared by voters in the CBS College Sports Network/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Preseason Poll with the Eagles holding down the No. 3 position. Emory finished with 541 points and received one first-place vote. The Eagles’ preseason ranking is the program’s highest since the preseason poll made its debut in 2000.

Head Coach Jenny McDowell enters her 13th season at the helm of the program with a total of nine letterwinners, including four starters, returning from last season’s club that posted an overall won-lost slate of 33-7 that included an 12th straight appearance to the NCAA Tournament where it advanced to the quarterfinal round. Among the returnees are senior setter Madison Robelen, a second team All-America honoree from 2007, and senior middle hitter Dani Huffman, who garnered first team All-University Athletic Association status last season.

Holding down the No. 1 spot in the preseason rankings is Juniata College with 13 first-place votes and 588 total points. University Athletic Association member and defending national champion Washington University is No. 2 with 584 points while Wittenberg College (492 pts.) and La Verne (466 pts.) are 4th and 5th, respectively.

The Eagles opens the 2008 campaign the weekend of August 29-30 when they compete at the Comfort Inn Challenge hosted by Birmingham Southern College.

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